Eternity
by IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon
Summary: After I'd stepped inside the glass tube, I turned to him and pressed three fingers to my lips, holding them out towards his figure. "What does that mean?" I heard him ask, though his words were muffled. "It means goodbye to someone you love." I answered simply and readied myself for my unavoidable death. CatoXOC
1. Chapter One: The Reaping

"Mirabelle Reed."

The words didn't register in my mind for a few seconds after they'd been spoken. It was like everything was muddled, like I was swimming through a lake and could never quite break the surface. Numbly, I felt someone shaking my shoulder but I didn't understand why they were being so persistent. I hadn't done anything wrong; at least, I didn't think I had.

"Mirabelle Reed? Come on, don't be so shy! I need you to join me up on stage!" Effie Trinket's lilting voice rang through the silent square with an eeriness to it. Suddenly, the person who was shaking my shoulder hastily whispered, "Your name was called. You have to go up there." I wanted to look at her like she was crazy but then I realized she was right. Mirabelle Reed. My name.

Wait. Effie Trinket had just said my name.

My stomach churned as my feet made their way through the sea of fourteen year old girls that I was forced to stand with during the reaping. Two Peacekeepers followed next to my sides as I walked down the aisle way to the stage, and I saw Effie's face relax into a wide smile when she realized that first District 12 tribute had been found. All the time I was walking, I was praying inside my head, _please someone volunteer, please someone volunteer_. But I should've known better. No one would dare volunteer for the games, especially after what had happened last year, with both of our tributes not even making it past the bloodbath. Primrose Everdeen, the younger sister of Katniss, was still mourning her sister's death, coming to school everyday with her face red and puffy. I never really knew how the baker fared after his son died, but I'd heard he never had baked a loaf of bread the same way again.

Too in shock to twist my hands together in anxiety, I just let my arms hang stoic by my sides, my fingers brushing against the pale blue cotton of my dress as I walked up the stairs of the stage.

"Well, it's nice to see that our tribute didn't get lost on her journey up here!" Effie jokingly stated, hoping to get a laugh from the citizens, but you could hear a pin drop in the place. I guess in an effort to redeem herself, she fluffed up her hair and made her way to the boy's bowl, saying, "Now, for the gentlemen!"

Her ridiculously pink nails swirled around in the papers for a few seconds before she finally chose a slip. Taking a few more moments of anxious silence to walk back to the microphone, Effie opened the scrap of paper and announced loudly, "Flint Mulberry."

No._ No_. Anybody but him. My heart dropped to the ground as the boy, well actually he is more reminiscent of a man, stepped out from the eighteen-year-olds' roped off section, proceeding to join me and Effie up on stage. I could tell from his body language that he didn't like his predicament either, the way his mouth was down turned slightly as the Peacekeepers helped him up the old wooden stairs, the boy shaking them off as he came closer to us.

This wasn't fair. Not for him, not for me. We were two kids from the community home so I doubt that anyone cared we were potentially going to die in a few weeks, but I cared, so much that it hurt. Flint and I had known each other for as long as I can remember. He was the only kid that I'd let myself trust in the home because if you let too many people in, they would cause you pain at some point; stealing your few belongings, eating the small ration that was supposed to be yours at dinner, etc. We'd grown so close that we were practically brother and sister, practically family. He would sing little songs to lull me to sleep after I'd woken from a nightmare and braid my hair in a French plait to calm me after a hard day at school. I couldn't imagine not having him around for the rest of my life, not being there for me when I had to come back to hellish place I called home.

But there was something about our situation that was even more unfair than the before mentioned. Flint was blind. How could the Capitol expect a blind boy to fight in the Hunger Games when he couldn't even see his competitors? It was just so absurd that I wanted to scream and throw some type of fit but I managed to grab hold of myself, hoping my angered expression came off as something else on the cameras.

"Now, shake hands. That's good, " Effie monitored as Flint and I took the other's hand and reluctantly shook, "It is my pleasure to present the tributes for District 12! May the odds be ever in your favor!"

We both turned to the audience and then were ushered off the stage, into the depths of the justice building with me gripping Flint's rough hand as we walked through the marble floored hallways. As the Peacekeepers began to take us to our separate receiving rooms, Flint kissed my forehead softly and whispered, "You'll be okay, Miri."

Then we were shoved apart and thrown into empty velvet adorned rooms to await visitors who were going to wish us well in the arena. I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to receive any because I never really spoke to anyone besides Flint so I sat down on the fanciest couch I had ever seen and let everything that had happened sink in.

I was going to compete in the Hunger Games. Against Flint. And probably die within the first few days. But I was going to do everything I could to make sure that Flint came back. He was so selfless and basically never complained about anything unless his opinion was really strong. He deserved to come back home and maybe the Capitol could fix his eyesight with all of the advanced medicines and operations they have there. I just knew he would love to just see the world once, even if it would be all of the horrible people in the Capitol who were only cheering because he had won a death match.

Suddenly, the door cracked open and Rowan Froste walked in, a boy I barely knew but had talked to on occasion because he worked at the Hob, where I sometimes traded game I had slain with my dagger for food, money, or trinkets on Flint's birthday. He was a tall, tan-skinned man with fairly handsome features who I could've had a crush on if I saw him more often, and he ran a hand through his chestnut brown hair before coming to kneel down in front of my sitting position.

"This belongs to you," he said and pulled out something from a pocket on his forest green pants, holding it out in his palm for me to examine. A silver heart-shaped locket glinted in the faint afternoon sunlight shining in between the curtained windows, slung on a delicate chain and my mouth almost dropped open. It couldn't belong to me, I mean, I'd never once held anything that beautiful in my entire life. I just…didn't feel worthy.

I looked back up at his face and shook my head, about to disagree with him but he stopped me, saying, "It was your mother's. Someone swiped it off of her body after she'd died and traded it at the Hob. Ma instantly recognized it and hid it away until she decided it was time to give it to you." He ran a hand through his hair again and added, "I would've made her give it to you sooner, but if you knew my ma, she's as stubborn as an ox."

I couldn't believe it. I was looking at a piece of my mother, a piece of my past that I barely had the strength to uncover. It seemed like only yesterday that she'd died, along with my father, the pain being so fresh. I can still remember my father being up there on a makeshift stage in front of the community, tied to a pole, looking at me and my mother like we were the only things holding him onto the earth. A Peacekeeper began to take aim with a gun, the sight of it scaring the little five-year-old I was, but before he could fire, my mother ran through the crowd and up onto the stage, shielding my father protectively. The gunshot still haunted my memories, along with my father screaming her name as she fell limp to the ground.

"_Rose!"_

"Hey, are you okay?" Snapping back to reality at the sound of Rowan's voice, I ignored the tears welling in my bottom eyelid and glanced at his slightly worried face, whispering, "Thank you. You… you don't what this means to me."

He simply nodded and asked, "Do you want me to help you put in on?"

"Sure." I lifted up the end of my French braid that Flint had done for me this morning and allowed his large hands to clasp the locket around my neck. The jewelry felt cool against my skin and I admired its simplistic beauty, the way it just seemed to pull my outfit together.

"One more thing," I heard Rowan say then felt his soft lips on my cheek, kissing the skin briefly before moving his mouth to my ear, "Kick ass in there."

I laughed lightly and watched his large build leave the room, wondering why I had never spent more than three minutes in conversation with him. But I didn't have long to ponder.

"Come on," I whipped my head up to see a Peacekeeper glowering at me, "We board the train in less than two minutes."

* * *

The inside of the train was breath taking. Gleaming wood tables, velveteen couches, silk curtains, a feast laid out for us. Most of the food sitting on the plates looked to pretty to eat, but some part of me was afraid that they would take the food away from us if we didn't eat it fast enough. Not once in either of our lives had Flint and I ever eaten food like what was set out in front of us. Effie just laughed in her silly Capitol way at what my reaction was to the sight, and said, "Well, don't you look like you've just seen the president!"

She laughed again, and told us to follow her down the hallway, me holding on to Flint's arm and helping to guide him after her. She led us to a couple of doors and opened a specific one, saying," This is Flint's room. Isn't it just wonderful?"

Personally, I thought her comment was a little insensitive, since Flint couldn't even see it, but instead of getting mad or frustrated, he just walked over to where he presumed the bed was and ran his hands over the sheets, a small smile gracing his lips.

"Yeah, it is." He said and let his smile grow as he began to make his way around the room, closing his eyes at certain parts on his adventure as if trying to picture what the materials looked like. I could've watched him explore his room the rest of the night, the way his face lit up like a child's whenever he reached a new corner of the unfamiliar space, but Effie's voice caused me to turn around.

"And this is your room." She said, knocking against the wood of the door right across the hall, and then informed us that dinner was in twenty minutes and 'we'd better not be late.' I nodded and turned back to face Flint who was now laying down on the bed, eyes closed and chest moving subtly up and down. Not sure if he was asleep or not, I tentatively asked, "Are you going to be okay if I leave?"

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna take a nap, but I think the better question is whether you'll be okay if I go to sleep." He said and a smirk replaced his smile as he placed his arms behind his head.

"Goodnight, Flint." I said in a singsong voice, my heart warming as I heard his familiar chuckle when I closed the door. Not bothering to look at my bedroom yet, I decided to have a little bit to eat, and then check out the rest of our car. I made my way back into the main compartment and surveyed the different foods that were available for me to devour at my leisure. After a few minutes of eyeing the hot pink cupcakes that were frosted with orange icing, I picked one of them up and took a bite, marveling at its taste. I wondered if all Capitol foods tasted as magnificent as it as I wandered around, opening random doors and finding out that we had a game room, a theater room, and a spa room, which I was sure Effie was all too excited to use.

I eventually made my way to a door at the end of the car, opening it and then jumping about three feet in the air as a loud rushing noise invaded my ears. Curious, I walked into the small space, which I guessed was what connected the train cars together as we rode along through the districts, and looked around. It wasn't any bigger than a medium sized restroom and on either side it had doors that presumably led to my car and an unknown one. Taking another bite of my half finished cupcake, I tried to look through the window that provided visual access to the next car but unfortunately, it proved to be taller than my five foot four stature.

Unfortunately, as I was standing on my tiptoes, trying to look in, the train went over a bump and threw me into the door, it being unlocked and tossing me into the strange space. I stumbled for a few seconds until I ran into something hard, not a wall, but something almost as strong.

"Look what we have here, Finnick. A wayward tribute far from home." What ever I was leaning against rumbled as the words traveled into the silence and I lifted my head out of what ended up being a fitted white t-shirt that was covering a well-defined chest. A boy who looked probably older than his years was staring down at me with an amused expression, his piercing blue eyes searching my face for an explanation as to why I was in their car. For a few moments, I couldn't tear my gaze away as I realized who I was staring at. Cato Kingsley. The arrogant, bloodthirsty, and um, gorgeous victor of the 74th Hunger Games.

And I had managed to smudge orange frosting along his tan and, not to mention again, _gorgeous_ bicep. Smooth, Mirabelle, smooth.

"I… uh…I fell." I managed to say and them mentally slapped myself as hard as I could for saying something so stupid. Cato chuckled and one of his trademark smirks that made Capitol women fall over themselves to get in a twelve-foot-radius of him slid onto his face, rendering me speechless. "Yeah, angel, I got that far. What I didn't catch is why you fell into our dining car."

I was becoming more flustered with every second that passed and when I saw the handsome Finnick Odair, victor of the 65th Hunger Games, step out from behind Cato's large frame, I swear my mind went completely. Not knowing what to do, I let my eyes flicker back and forth from Cato's face, to the icing on his arm, trying to conjure up something remotely intelligent to say.

"I'm, uh, sorry?" It came out sounding more like a question than an apology and caused both victors to laugh, but not in a mean way, more like I was just something funny to brighten up their day.

"S'okay, angel. But I think you might want to set your cupcake down before you get orange frosting on anything else." Cato took the pastry from my hand and put it on a table a few feet away from him, allowing me to back away from his chest in the process. I stood awkwardly as both of the men stared at me, not knowing whether to leave abruptly or say something to them. Before I could make a choice though, Finnick asked me, "So, what's your name and what district are you from?"

"My name's Mirabelle and I'm, uh, from District 12." I didn't dare look up at their faces to see what their reaction would be to where I live. My district was the laughing stock of the twelve and to make matters worse, we hadn't had a victor in about fifty years. Sad, I know. But I couldn't change anything about it now so I just waited for someone to speak.

"Well, you're pretty enough to get some sponsors, so all hope isn't lost on you yet." I whipped my head up at Cato's comment and stared at him in disbelief. Cato Kingsley had called me pretty. Me, Mirabelle Reed, had just been called pretty by one of the most famous guys in Panem. "You-you think I'm pretty?" I stuttered.

He shrugged and walked over to a couch similar to the one in my car's main compartment, letting himself fall into a sitting position as he grabbed a bottle of brown liquid to take a swig of. Finnick followed suit and I was left standing alone while the two victors watched the reapings play out on the television screen. It had seemed they'd already watched the reapings from Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4 by the time I'd come in so I was in the middle of watching District 5's exuberant escort announce the name of the girl tribute, Maple Kotnik, and seeing her walk from the sixteen-year-olds' section with tears flooding down her cheeks.

"Bloodbath." Cato and Finnick uttered in unison, followed by Cato taking another sip of his drink and I was taken aback by their insensitive bluntness. How could they just so carelessly rate how far the person will last in the Games without even knowing them, or what their strengths and weaknesses are? They said the same thing about the District 5 boy and I winced at the sound of their unfeeling voices. They were in the Games, they knew what it was like, so shouldn't they be more lenient with emotions towards us tributes? Or was I wrong to even assume that?

Once we'd gotten through the district ten reaping, Cato looked over at me and just seemed to notice that I had been standing the whole time, offering, "You can sit down if you want." He tapped his hand against the cushion next to him and I cautiously obliged, smoothing out my worn dress as I sat.

"Poppy Briarwood, " said the green skinned escort for District 11 and a man from the solemn audience cried out as a girl from the seventeen-year-old girls' roped off sector came forward, yelling, "No, please, somebody volunteer for my daughter! She's all I have left! Please!"

The girl kept walking towards the stage, ignoring her father's pleas, and she kept her face strong, not letting any emotions slip as she stood next to the escort except for a single tear that escaped from her left eye.

"Well, that certainly was one of the most emotionally vocalized reapings we've ever had from District 11, don't you think, Caesar?" The image on the screen faded to a scene where Claudius Templesmith and Caesar Flickerman were discussing the reapings over mugs of what I guessed was coffee, and Caesar nodded, saying, "Yes, usually that district is among the quieter ones when it come to Games season."

They became silent again as the boy tribute was selected, the reaping now projected in a small box in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. A large boy stepped into the aisle way from eighteen-year-olds' and he looked absolutely menacing on screen. It made me wonder how terrifying it would be to actually meet him face-to-face.

"It looks like we could potentially have another Thresh this year, Claudius," Caesar exclaimed and I felt Cato stiffen beside me. Thresh had been Cato's final kill in the Games last year and apparently he still hadn't gotten over the fact a boy from a lesser district could've had the chance to beat him. But as soon a Cato had grabbed his sword and went after him, we all knew he was a goner. What Cato lacked in strength, he had in experience and ultimately, timing was what brought the brute down in the end.

"Another Thresh my ass," I heard Cato mumble and I shuddered at how venomous his words were. He really had hated that guy. But my fear from his tone went away as Claudius and Caesar moved on to the District 12 reaping. Effie Trinket was smiling and blabbering away on stage before ending her opening speech to select the girl tribute. She waited a few seconds for dramatic effect and then pulled out a tiny slip of white paper, opening it with care and announcing gleefully, "Mirabelle Reed."

Even though it had been hours ago that it had happened, the shock of my name being called hit me full force as I sat on that couch, fresh horror squeezing my stomach. I watched painfully as the cameras zoomed in on my blank face, alerted that the chosen girl was me by the person shaking my shoulder. The person, I realized now, was Jensen Stone, a girl who sat next to me in school. I silently sent her a thank you because if she hadn't shaken my shoulder, I probably wouldn't have made it to that stage.

I was surprised at how small I looked as I walked to meet Effie, seeming no older than a twelve-year-old. I'd never thought of myself as that tiny but I guess that's what malnourishment can do to you over time. Thankfully, my face had stayed blank as I stood next to our excited escort, but as soon as she called Flint's name, it contorted into what looked like disbelief mixed with fury. I hated to watch Flint in his trouble to make it to where Effie and I stood, his mouth taut as he tried to listen for any sound that would give him a clue to where the stage was.

"Is…is that boy blind, Caesar?" Claudius's face contained a surprised expression as they both watched Flint make his way to Effie and me. We shook hands and then stared out at the crowd, that movement allowing the cameras to get a good look at Flint's eyes, broadcasting the thin layer of milky film covering his irises.

"I believe he is." I could almost hear all of Panem gasp at his words and my heart broke because I knew that Flint would never get any sponsors now. "May the odds be ever in his favor, then."

"But the girl, Caesar, she looks like she has some promise. The look on her face after the boy was called…it was just heart-wrenching, wasn't it?" Freezing as soon as I realized they were talking about me, I leaned in closer to hear them, even though the volume was perfectly loud enough. I could feel Cato and Finnick's eyes on me as Caesar answered, "Yes, it certainly was. I'm anxious to see what she'll bring to the table, come time to enter the arena. And to be frank, I wouldn't be surprised if she scored among the top contenders when the Gamekeeper's results come in. She just _seems_ like she has something up her sleeve."

They thought I could make it. They thought I was something to watch out for. A burst of hope sprung up inside me, telling me that I had a chance to win this thing, but then I realized if I won, Flint would be dead. Just the thought of him gone caused the squeezing feeling to return to my stomach and I turned away from the screen as Claudius and Caesar signed off, a Capitol endorsed commercial taking the place of their smiling faces.

"Well, that was interesting." Finnick was the first to stand from the couch and he made his way to a fully stocked table, similar to the one back in my car. He took a bite of an exotic looking fruit shaped like a star, and said, "Kid, you'd better start working your ass off because some of those careers are going to be serious competition in the arena."

I didn't understand why he would be giving me advice so I just chalked his actions up to trying to mess with my head before the Games start. Nodding, I sat in my place on the couch and noticing Cato hadn't moved from his spot either. Then, all of a sudden, he turned to face me, his blue eyes trying to read me like a book, trying to see what I was hiding. It scared me, how intense his gaze was, and I grew very aware of how close I was to him and the possibility of having one of my limbs removed. I'd seen what he'd done last year in the arena and I really didn't want to end up like one of his bloodbath victims.

"Yeah, the tributes from two are just as ruthless as the year before so I'd watch out for them," Cato said, his voice distracted as he kept searching my face, finally turning away when he found nothing. My heart was racing just from that brief moment of interaction with him and I found it strange because I barely knew the guy. I couldn't have…feelings for him yet. Could I?

"Where have you been, Mirabelle? You're fifteen minutes late, we're all waiting for you and…" Everyone looked up as Effie barreled into the room, with me staring like a deer in headlights as she finished her sentence, "…you're sitting in a room with Cato Kingsley and Finnick Odair, the mentors of your biggest competitors."

Instantly snapping back to his arrogant self, Cato switched on his smirk and walked across the room to join Finnick, saying as he passed the escort, "Hey, Effie. Don't you just look like a vision from the Capitol."

Effie flustered from the victor's attention and fixed her powder-puff pink wig as she shot Cato a flirtatious yet reserved glance. "Well, I dress everyday like it's an important one. Thank you for noticing."

"You've got a cute tribute this year. Tell Haymitch that if he plays his cards right, he could have sponsors lining up at the door for this girl." Cato winked at me and I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks, probably causing me to look like a tomato. God, I felt like such an easy person to mess with, letting all of my feelings float to the surface like that.

"I'll be sure to let him know. Now, Mirabelle," She motioned for me to come towards her and I stood from the comfortable couch, "Haymitch and Flint are waiting for us, so if you don't mind, boys." Effie graciously nodded towards the handsome victors and then placed her arm around my shoulder, guiding me away from them and leading me back into our car.

I could tell she was mad. Her lips were pulled taut as she whispered, "What were you thinking, fraternizing with your competition? Are you planning to get yourself killed as fast as you can?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run into them, it…it just happened." Effie just sighed exasperatedly at my attempt at an apology and said, "Well, let's not mention that it did, shall we?"

Nodding, I plastered a smile on my face as we entered the main compartment and took notice that Haymitch was probably already drunk so he wouldn't care if I was late. Flint was absentmindedly dragging his fork back and forth across his plate, but his head whipped over to us at the sound of our footsteps, smiling in greeting. I took a seat next to him and whispered, "Sorry, I locked myself in the game room and couldn't get out."

I'd hoped it was convincing enough for him, but Flint knew me too well. "Sure you did, Miri. Sure you did."

"You finally decided to return, did you?" Haymitch's voice was slightly slurred as he took a gulp of what smelled strongly like alcohol. _Great_, I thought, _we have a drunk as a mentor. Yeah, he'll totally get us past the bloodbath_.

"There was an incident. But I'm sure you can overlook it, right?" Effie said, shooting me a look that said if-you-tell-him-there'll-be-hell-to-pay. Haymitch just grumbled something under his breath about going to take a nap and stumbled towards what I presumed to be his room. He didn't quite make it, though. About five feet down the hall, he passed out cold, falling against the wall and sliding to the floor.

"Oh my," Effie looked absolutely disgusted and I struggled to stifle my giggles along with Flint, who had heard the thump and guessed correctly.

This was going to be a long and eventful train ride.


	2. Chapter Two: A Kiss from Cato

**Hey everybody! Sorry i didn't add an author's note the first time, my computer was being screwy so blame the laptop. Well, i hope you guys enjoy Chapter Two! Pleeeeeease read & review. All, including criticism, will be appreciated. **

**xoxo**

**Cinderella2.0**

"Come on, Mirabelle, today is a big big big day! We arrive at the Capitol! Doesn't that sound fun?"

_Could the woman just shut up?_ I groaned at the sound of Effie's voice and pulled the silk covers over my head, trying desperately to block out the noise so I could get at least five more minutes of sleep.

"Now, don't be so stubborn. All of the citizens are so eager to see you and Flint! You wouldn't want to let them down, would you?"

_Just __**shut **__**up**_. She was really giving me a headache by that point, and I was about to tell her something using VERY colorful language when Flint interrupted, saying, "Here, Effie, let me try. She isn't a morning person, even on her best days. Besides, I think Haymitch needs help opening one of his, um, _many_ wine bottles."

I smiled under my sheets at his comment and heard Effie huff as she left the room, obviously not happy that she had to deal with Haymitch on her own, especially after yesterday's ordeal. A small part of me felt bad for her but it was overcome by the extreme thankfulness that she wasn't nagging me to get up anymore. But then again, Flint was the one who actually knew the tactics that worked in that department.

"Up, buttercup. You know you're going to have to sooner or later so why not just get it over with." I let my covers fall back from my face and saw him standing with his arms crossed, staring in my direction, his eyes narrowed even though he couldn't see me. He cocked one eyebrow when he heard my movement, and it never ceased to surprise me that he always supplied the perfect reaction to whatever I was doing. That raised line of hair said you-better-get-your-butt-out-of-bed-right-now and knowing that Flint was going to be a lot more persistent than Effie, I groaned once more and threw the violet bedspread aside.

"That's my girl." He said with a grin as he picked up the sound of my footsteps coming nearer to him. I rolled my eyes and mumbled, "Uh-huh."

He laughed and tugged at the blue ribbon that he'd used to secure the end of my braid on the day of the reaping, gently maneuvering his fingers to unweave the golden brown strands as he'd done thousands of times before. Guessing there must be a brush around somewhere, he slowly made his way to the bureau and ran his hand along the surface, his forehead creased in frustrated determination. I hated to see him struggle, so I took his hand and guided it to the brush, a frown pulling on his lips.

"I could've found it." He muttered but I knew he wasn't angry with me. Flint never wanted anyone's pity of his disability because he was constantly trying to be normal like everyone else. He was constantly angry with himself, also, because he knew that he wouldn't ever have the chance to be normal. Once when I was about eleven, I came home from school to find him throwing things about, yelling about how it wasn't fair and crying his eyes out. Besides my parents' death, it was one of the scariest moments of my life, seeing the person who took care of me when I was broken break down himself. I'd been extra careful not to approach the topic of his blindness ever since that day, so I wouldn't have to watch him have another meltdown.

"I know." I whispered as he dragged the bristles through the tangled waves created by the braid I'd slept in. Soon my hair was soft and shiny, hanging down about an inch past my shoulders, and Flint kissed the top of my head, saying, "Now, pick something pretty to wear and I'll see you at breakfast, okay, sweetie?"

"Okay." With that he left the room, and I sighed, walking over to a mahogany (haha :D) double-doored wardrobe that towered over me. I tossed open the doors and was blown away by the various choices of clothing. Back home I only had three outfits; one for school, one for hunting, and one for reaping day. So seeing all of the fancy garments hanging in front of me had me reeling. Finally, I chose a soft pink blouse with short sleeves that ruffled at the end, white cropped pants that clung to my legs, and white flats resembling ballet shoes. For a last minute touch, I tied a white ribbon around my head like a headband, securing the ends in a bow.

"Well, this is about as good as I'll get for the moment," I murmured to myself and straightened the bow once more as I made my way from the room. Voices were already sounding from the main room and I followed them until I saw Effie, Haymitch and Flint at the table, Effie's face red under the slight pink coloring of her skin and Haymitch smirking at her, a glass of liquor in his hand.

"Think about the children! How can you let yourself be hung-over twenty-four hours a day, when their lives are at stake?" Effie was shrieking, fed up with our mentor's antics and her wig was slightly off-center from her distress. Haymitch just sipped his drink and said, "Why, so I can be sober when they get killed off just like the rest of them?"

That caused Effie to shut up, not having a rebuttal to his brutally true statement. Everyone was silent for a few minutes as we let his comment float around in our heads. Yeah, I knew that it was nearly impossible that either one of us would get out alive, but hearing it come from someone's mouth made the thought sting. I broke the silence by coming over to the table and saying, "Good morning."

"Good morning as well! How did you sleep?" Effie tried to slip back into her chipper attitude as soon as she saw me, not knowing that I had seen the conversation, and gave me a cheerful smile as an Avox came around to my seat with a plate of eggs, what looked like bacon, sausage, toast smothered with butter and jam, fried potatoes, and a medley of fruit. I stared in awe of it and turned to the Avox boy, a 'thank you' spilling from my lips. He nodded and went back to stand in his place along the wall, by two other servants.

I went for the toast first, letting the sweet flavors of the jam and butter grace my taste buds as I chewed. Flint had decided to go for the fried potatoes and was shoveling a forkful into his mouth as I glanced over at him. Haymitch was apparently substituting alcohol in place of the food for his breakfast, and Effie was daintily cutting her scrambled eggs into even smaller pieces before placing them on her tongue. It was strange, having such different people sit down and eat together like it was a normal thing to do. Effie and Haymitch probably had the resources to eat like this everyday, whereas Flint and I had to struggle to say fed. It just felt so out of place, us all being at the same table.

"So, give me something to work with. What can that you two do that's remotely impressive?" I glanced up from my plate to see Haymitch looking in mine and Flint's direction expectantly. Swallowing my mouthful of bread, I tried to figure out how to break the news, not just to Haymitch and Effie, but to Flint too. He had no idea what I could do with a knife and I doubt he'd be happy if he found out that I could slay a rabbit with a flick of my wrist. So I stayed quiet, biting my lip as I snuck a look at Flint, who had moved on to sampling the different kinds of fruit on his plate.

"Fine with me. If you don't want to co-operate, I can just let you di-" Haymitch began to stay, but at the thought of dying I blurted out, "Flint has impeccable hearing. He can hear things seconds before they come with a five-foot-range of him."

As soon as I spoke, Flint stopped eating and turned his head towards the sound of my voice, his eyes widening in surprise. "I didn't know you paid attention that closely.

"I've lived with you for almost ten years of my life. How could I not notice?" Twisting my fingers together in my lap, I didn't even bother to glance upwards when Haymitch asked, "What can you do, sweetheart?" He said the name mockingly and it made anger bubble up inside me. He didn't really care about what happened to us. He just wanted to see what we were capable of so he could rate how fast we would die. The sound of Cato and Finnick's voices yesterday rung in my ears, the word they'd said repeating over and over again. _Bloodbath, bloodbath, bloodbath…_

Just to hopefully swipe the drunken smile of disapproval off his face, I looked him in the eye and steadily stated, "I'm good with a knife. I can kill a rabbit from thirty feet away in two seconds flat, and I've even caught a deer once. I may not have been trained at an academy my whole life, but if you think that I'm inexperienced, you just wait until you see me in the arena because I'll give you one hell of a show."

Silence. Complete silence. Effie was staring at me in disbelief and Haymitch looked impressed with my words, making me glad that I'd spoken up. But then that gladness quickly few away when I heard Flint's low angry voice growl, "What?"

Sighing, I turned to him and saw that a scowl was slashing through his handsome face, disfiguring his features. Yep, he was furious as I knew he would be when he found out, but still, the look on his face scared the crap out of me. In an effort to try and explain, I began, "I-I know you shouldn't have found out this way, but-"

"Yeah, you're sure as hell right about how I shouldn't have found out this way! I told you to absolutely not go into those woods, Mirabelle! You could've been hurt, or worse, caught and whipped in front of the whole district, with me forced to listen! Forced to hear the one person I love being beaten to death like…like…" He ran a hand agitatedly through his thick hair and I could tell he was thinking of how his mother had died. She'd been caught stealing a loaf of stale bread from the baker's trash and the baker's horrible wife wouldn't have it. She had called the Peacekeepers and Flint's mom had been tied to a pole, whips cracking incessantly for over an hour. By the time the Peacekeepers had carried out her sentence, his mom was dead, having bled out from the wounds in her back that had dug so deep you could see her bones. Flint was taken to the orphanage shortly after the incident, a few years before I showed up there.

A tear slid down his cheek, and I pressed my small hand to his cheek, trying to console him as another plopped onto my hand. I knew he didn't want to start crying in front of Effie and Haymitch, so I started to whisper soothingly, "It's okay, Flint. They never hurt me, I'm fine. Please don't cry. I'm okay."

"I can't bear that happening to you, Miri. If…if I heard you screaming like how she was…I swear I would just lose it. I-I can't lose you in that way." He let out a rueful laugh, "And even in these stupid Games, I can't fully protect you because I wouldn't be able to see the person coming to cut off your head. I would have to just listen while you cried out in pain and then go insane from the sound. Or maybe, I'll die first and save you from having me as a liability…"

"No, don't say that. Please." I pleaded and wrapped my arms tightly around him, pressing my face into the crook of his neck as he began to sob, the noises breaking my heart. This was the only day I'd ever seen him cry, besides the one before mentioned. He usually held in all of his emotions, so it was just as scary seeing him break down this time, as it was the last.

I kept hugging him until he pulled away, wiping his face free of tears, and he said with a chuckle, "God, I feel like such a girl."

I just shook my head and laughed softly, thinking it was funny how fast he could go from being sad to cracking jokes like nothing had occurred. Effie and Haymitch obviously didn't know what to say, so we all went back to eating noiselessly, drifting back into a world of our own thoughts. In fact nobody spoke for the rest of breakfast, until Effie brightened, chirping, "Oh, look, we're here! Doesn't the Capitol just look so magnificent? Go on, have a look!" She shooed us away from the table and towards the windows of the train, which I hadn't looked out of since we'd stepped on board, and what I saw had my jaw on the floor.

Now, I hate the Capitol for a lot of reasons, but even the most resentful person against it couldn't have disagreed that it was absolutely beautiful. It was if they'd painted all of the buildings gold and then positioned the sun to shine so perfectly on them that it seemed like they were glowing. Capitol citizens who seemed to small they resembled ants were going about their own business, all of them wearing ridiculous outfits in equally ridiculous colors. I was about to ask Flint what he thought of everything, when then the obvious smacked me in the face.

Grasping his hand tightly, I glanced up at his face, noticing how his lips frowned slightly and how his jaw was set on edge. I leaned my head against his sturdy arm, and asked, "Are you okay?"

I felt him nod and then he murmured in a broken tone, "I don't really want to see it anyway." Even though I new it was a straight out lie, I didn't contradict him, just stared out at the city in silence as it passed us by at an incredible speed. In fact we stood there in that spot until we pulled into the station, paparazzi shouting and taking pictures efficiently while Capitol citizen cheered for us. The sight was a bit overwhelming and a little scary when you took it in all at once so I decided it was best for me to keep a hold on Flint's arm as we walked through the crowd, knowing he would make sure that I wouldn't be hounded by any of the cameramen or, god forbid, the ravaging fans.

"Showtime, kiddies," Haymitch said dryly, seeming to be sober for the moment as he pushed open the car door, stepping out to greet the city. As Flint and I exited, I was deafened by the roars of admiration (at least I hoped it was admiration), and managed to smile shyly at the first few photographers who shouted my name, gripping Flint's arm tighter as we walked farther down the aisle. Flint, however, only nodded stiffly to the paparazzi, not answering any questions thrown at him. Effie followed after us and seemed to enjoy all of the attention, posing a few times for the cameras.

It felt like forever until we reached the training center, it's many stories towering above our heads as we entered. Flint and I were whisked down a hallway, Effie and Haymitch parting from us, and then were taken to separate rooms to be prepped for the opening ceremonies. I was given a robe and told to undress, but I decided to keep my mother's locket on, not wanting them to take it away from me. Everything in the room was chrome, every surface glinting and showing off my small frame like mirrors.

"Oh, look what a beauty we have to work with this year!" I jumped at the sound of a Capitol accent and whipped around to see three colorful people grinning at me, one with green skin, one with short red curls, and one who insisted on wearing pink as the only color on her outfit. The one with green skin came over to me and picked up my hand, shrieking when she saw my fingers, "But look at these nails, Flavius! We have some serious work to do!"

And some serious work they did. They managed to rip every single hair from my body, which made me feel like my skin was burning, and had gotten my nails under control. They'd even given my locks a trim, creating a clean canvas for my stylist to work with. Hopefully, whoever he was, he wouldn't give up on me just yet.

The prep team left after they decided that I was finished, and I sat on the silvery table, waiting for my stylist to come and work some magic, earning me at least some sponsors. My fingers curled around the locket in agitation, wondering if the guy was going to put me in a coal miner's outfit, giving up after what happened the year before, when he'd made our district's tributes appear like they were on fire. Everyone had thought that they'd made a big enough impression to make it into at least the third day, but sadly, we were wrong.

Suddenly, I felt another presence in the room and looked up to see an average sized man whose only flashy color was a thin strip of gold lining his eyes. Cinna. I'd seen him on TV last year but I never thought I'd actually meet the genius in person. He stood in all black, coming closer to me as I stood from the table, his fairly soft hand lifting my chin so he could get a better look at my face. I was worried about what he thought of me, if he thought I was worthy enough to wear his magnificent clothes, if I was worthy enough for him to waste his time making me beautiful.

Finally, he let his hand drop from my chin and just stared at me, an interested expression on his face. I found it surprising, that he thought I was interesting and fidgeted with my hands as he let his thought process work itself out.

"I find you intriguing, Mirabelle Reed."

His comment shocked me, and I glanced up at him with wide eyes, as if I wasn't sure if he was talking about the District 12 tribute I was. Nobody ever found anyone from district twelve intriguing, or even remotely worth knowing about. I didn't know how to respond so I just stood in awe of what he'd said.

"There's something about you that holds a dark tragic air, but I also see great strength. Strength, wits, and determination." He cocked his head to one side and asked, "That boy, is he your brother?"

I swallowed before answering in a timid voice, "No, but he's as close to me as one."

Cinna nodded and then placed his hands on my shoulders, probably preparing to give me some bad news about my costume. It was going to be the coal miner's get-up and I closed my eyes for a moment, sighing and picturing how embarrassing that would be. Flint and I would be eaten alive even before we entered the arena. Bu what came out of his mouth was the last thing I expected.

"I can see that you've had a dark and terrible past, that something in your life has caused you great pain for being such a young girl, and I want to show that off. I want to show off that you were strong enough to overcome something that I think few people would be able to. I want the audience to see how you're something more than just a little girl from District 12 who they think doesn't stand a chance."

He paused then added, "I'm going to transform you into their worst nightmare. Everyone is going to realize that they can't push you around just because you're small and not as prepared. They're going to see the dark, tortured side of District 12 this year, and they're never going to forget it."

I tentatively asked him, "You're not going to set me on fire, are you?"

Cinna smiled and shook his head, saying, "No, I going to turn into something much more powerful. You're going to be the ashes, the ever-present reminder of destruction that takes years to fully get rid of. It's always the thing that lingers after the fire has taken it's toll, that blankets everything until it becomes a suffocating cocoon that tells us nothing will ever be the same. You, Mirabelle, are going to be their reminder that District 12 is not to be forgotten."

* * *

An hour later, I couldn't even recognize myself. Cinna was really a genius. My hair had been styled in voluminous, tangled-together curls, giving me a slightly feral appearance, and it had been sprinkled with coal dust. My eyelids and lips had been coated in black and the effects made my gray eyes look piercing, but the most magnificent thing was the dress he'd designed. Crafted out of black silk, it hung in tattered tiers down the floor and was corseted around my waist, the material hanging loosely over what chest I had and, I guess to remind the Capitol that they were sending children into the games to be murdered, cap-sleeves rounded off my shoulders. Coal ashes had been smeared along my arms, neck, and face, and all in all, I looked rather terrifying. Like a child's doll that somebody threw in the fire and had come back for revenge.

"Cinna," I breathed, "It's perfect."

He smiled at me and linked his arm through mine, "Now, let's reunite you with your partner and give the other tributes a run for their money."

We strolled from the room and down several hallways before we reached the area where the chariots were to be loaded, and there we saw Portia, Cinna's counterpart, putting last minute touches on Flint's ensemble, who standing stiffly as he listened to the sounds of the Capitol citizens cheering to see their new tributes. Even though it was nearly impossible to pick up any sounds over the roaring, Flint still turned towards me as Cinna and I walked nearer to him, giving me a reassuring smile. What can I say, his hearing is literally the eighth wonder of the world.

I gave him a quick once-over, and raised my eyebrows in appreciation at Portia's handiwork. He wore a tight black dress-shirt, with a fitted silk vest over-top, and she'd finished off the look with black dress-pants. Ashes had been smeared on his face, neck, and the uncovered part of his arms, also, and he looked in everyway like a miner who'd come back from the dead. In a good way, mind you.

"Don't you look handsome?" I said, and watched his smile grow bigger as he grabbed my hand, twirling me around and listening to the sound of my dress rustling as I spun.

"You look beautiful, Miri." He said and I didn't even bring up the fact that he couldn't even see my outfit, not wanting to ruin the moment. Cinna motioned us over to our chariot and the first thing that I noticed about it was that it was midnight black, instead of gold like all of the others. Giving him a curious look, I patiently waited for him to explain the abnormality as Portia went to fiddle with something near the entrance that all of the chariots would pass through before facing the masses.

"When you both are in the chariot, there are going to be a few things happening that might surprise you, but I need you to just pretend like you knew about them the whole time, okay?" He told us as he helped Flint and me into the spectacle, getting us situated so that we would fall off during the show.

"What kinds of things?" Flint asked cautiously, and Cinna glanced between us both, saying the answer Flint and I didn't want to hear. "It's best that you don't know at the moment."

Soon, District 11's chariot in front of us was moving, the tributes wearing outfits crafted from wheat to represent agriculture, and Cinna squeezed my hand, whispering, "Good luck."

And we were off, our chariot rushing faster and faster towards the entrance, my hand gripping Flint's for dear life. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Portia position her self to pull a cord hanging to a canister on the wall, an assistant opposite from her in the same stance. It was too late to panic because before I knew it, we were making our way towards the crowd.

For a moment all I saw was a flash of orange and yellow, and then we broke through the substance, the audience going wild once they saw us. Literally, they went berserk at our entrance and the noise level went from a nine to about a thirty. I felt like Cinna wouldn't want me to smile in this ensemble, so I kept a fierce expression plastered to my features as we rode along, staring at the crowds with a hardness in my eye. They seemed to love that even more and I swear my ear drums probably popped from their screams.

I practically could feel the other tributes glaring at us as we slid to a stop in front of President Snow, who gave his usual speech about the Games and then sent us on our way, the chariots moving back around to the exit. As we left, the crowd's cheers echoed in my ear for a few seconds before fading away into a soft ringing. Cinna came over and gave me a hug, saying something about how fantastic we were and then Haymitch was telling me that he was glad that Flint and I had given him something to work with. I was being tossed compliment after compliment and soon I was becoming dizzy from it all, stepping away from to clear my head for a few seconds, but as I turned to walk, I bumped into someone's chest.

The situation felt eerily familiar so I wasn't that surprised when I saw Cato smirking down at me, grabbing hold of my writs to keep me from toppling over in the sky high heels Cinna had given me with the dress.

"Quite an impression you made out there, angel." He said and brushed a wayward curl out of my face, his fingers leaving a burning sensation as they dragged across my cheek. "But I still have to say that you were more radiant that say on the train. I like the more innocent side of you. The vulnerable side."

He let go of my left wrist but held onto my right, slipping down to cradle my hand with his, kissing the skin briefly before adding, "See ya around, angel."

Then he disappeared into the mass of tributes and their entourages. The feeling of his fingers on my skin still hadn't left and I could feel a blush creeping onto my cheeks. What was it about this guy that had me so head over heels?

I was going to find out what it was. I was going to solve the puzzle that was Cato Kingsley. Mark. My. Words.

**Ooo, Cato has set his sights on one of our tributes! Well, if you have any suggestions, please review and tell me! See ya! Stay tuned for chapter 3!**

**Also, my sister has a fanfiction on here and she wrote a crossover fan-fiction between me and Cato (not using my real name)and u guys should check it out! It's called Puhleez and it's really funny. :)**


	3. Chapter Three: A Twist in the Tale

**YAY! Chapter three is up! I hope all of you lovely Cato fans enjoy it! By the way, i would like to thank MoonByDaySunByNight for providing some useful information for this chapter :) and to all of the people that reviewed my story. It really meant a lot to me.**

**xoxo**

**Cinderella2.0**

Later that night, everyone was gathered around the television, watching the recaps of the chariot rides and listening to Caesar and Claudius's commentary. I'd taken a shower as soon as we'd gotten to the apartment that District 12 was assigned, and my hair laid wet upon my shoulders, dampening the light blue shirt I had thrown on along with the white pants from earlier that had somehow been magically transported to my room. Flint was sitting next to me on the leather couch, with Portia on his right and Cinna on my left. Effie and Haymitch sat in individual chairs on either side of the couch and all of us were listening closely to every word the commentators were saying.

"Well, District's 1 and 2 were certainly dressed to perfection this year. I mean, those gladiator costumes just never go out of style, do they?" Claudius said, sporting a head of bright yellow locks that went down to his chin, flipping in at the ends and I rolled my eyes at his choice of hair-do. He looked even more ridiculous every year. Caesar nodded, his hair dyed a sunset orange for this year's Games, and added, "Yes, their stylists certainly know how to put on a show. But what about District 12, Claudius? Let's take a look."

Their faces faded out into our entrance at the chariot rides, and everyone in our room was silent, waiting to see just how magnificent we looked. Suddenly, a burst of flames shot out from the sides of the entrance walls, and then there we were, shooting through the fire and standing proudly in our chariot. I swear everyone's mouths had dropped open by that point, reveling at just how flawlessly Cinna had pulled this off. It was even more impressive than last year. Flint and I, true to Cinna's word, looked like every tribute's worst nightmare.

"Wow…that was just breath-taking. The daring outfits, the perfect execution. Cinna has really pushed the limits with these tributes. I swear, my heart almost stopped when I saw them come through that fire." Caesar paused to take a breath. "I told you there was something about that girl, Claudius. She just seemed so fierce, so strong, not even breaking a smile while on that chariot. It's going to be hard to overlook her when the fighting begins."

I was instantly hit with another round of compliments, and I shyly thanked them, not good at handling all of the admiration yet. Flint kissed my forehead and said, "I'm proud of you, Miri."

Grinning, I tackled him with a hug and hear him chuckle as I whispered. "I'm proud of you, too."

He just ruffled my wet head and went back to listening to Claudius and Caesar's voices ramble on about just how magnificent we were. I was almost getting sick of it by the time they finally signed off on the show and leaned my head against Flint's arm, ready to go to sleep. Haymitch was yawning and even Effie looked tired from the day's events but something Claudius was saying snapped us all awake.

"Oh, wait everyone. I've just received the envelope from President Snow that contains the vital information about the Quarter Quell." He exclaimed, opening the yellowed letter with care and I felt that squeezing feeling in my stomach once again. I'd almost forgotten that the Quarter Quell was this year, and that meant that there'd be even less of a chance for me or Flint to make it out alive, depending on what it said. At the last one, Haymitch had won, but I didn't have a clue as to how he had because I hadn't been old enough to see his Games when they'd aired. Double the tributes had been thrown into the arena that year and I hoped that wasn't the case for us.

"It says that for the 75th Annual Hunger Games…" He trailed off as he studied the words and then his eyes widened, as if dumfounded by what he read. "…the mentors will switch districts as the tributes prepare for the Games."

"Is that all, Claudius?" Caesar asked, and the other commentator shook his head, adding, "It also says that the tributes will have to provide a talent to perform during the interviews."

"Well, what districts will the mentor's work with now? Does it say?" Claudius nodded as Caesar's inquiry, saying, "Yes, District 1's mentor will now report to District six at this time, District 2's mentor will now report to District 12, District 3's mentor…"

I stopped listening beyond that point. District 2's mentor will now report to District 12. Who was District 2's mentor again? Wait…

Oh, shit.

Cato Kingsley was going to be my mentor for the Games. I swallowed at the news and got up off the couch, running down the hallway to my room and then slamming the door behind me. No. No, no, no, this could _not_ be happening. Not at this point in the Games. They could not force me to work with someone who most likely thought I had no chance to win, who had openly flirted with me. Speaking of that, if Flint found out…let's just say that Cato wouldn't have been our mentor anymore.

Just…shit.

This was so not fair. Cato- he didn't even understand how things worked for us back in District 12. He probably had never suffered through a day without food, never had to worry about if he'd live to see the next sunrise. He'd never know what it was like to be blind, to have to go through life without being able to see what his mother, father, or anyone looked like. He'd never know what it was like to have his parents die right in front of him and then be forced to live in an orphanage until he grew old enough to work in the mines or he was unfortunate enough to get reaped.

Cato couldn't relate to Flint and me in any way, so how could he be expected to help us get through the Games? How could we be expected to use his tactics to train? We hadn't been trained in an academy for several years of our lives and we had little or no experience with heavy-duty weapons.

How could they do this to us?

"Miri? You okay?" Flint's cautious voice sounded from the other side of the mahogany door and when I didn't answer, he turned the knob and stepped into the tense space, my location cued to him by my harsh breaths. "Miri, what's wrong?"

"What's _wrong_?" I yelled, my voice raising an octave, "Everything, _everything_ is wrong, Flint! These stupid Games, the way these people cheer for our death, how they make children being murdered into entertainment. _Us_ being here is wrong! Cato being our mentor is wrong!" I stopped to catch a breath and then continued on, my volume rising with each sentence. "Our parents dying just to put food on the table for us is wrong! You being put into these games even though your_ blind_ is wrong! Everything is just wrong, wrong, _**WRONG**_!"

I screamed the last part and felt I needed to get my anger out somehow, so I ran over to my dresser and swiped my arm across it's surface, causing everything to topple to the floor. I was about to go for the wardrobe, but Flint grabbed me and pulled me against him, whispering comforting words to calm me. By that point I was sobbing, tears flooding down my face and let him pick me up and carry me to the bed, sitting me on his lap and rocking me back and forth as if I was five years old again.

"It's okay, Miri. Shh, everything's okay. Nothing is going to happen to you, sweetie. I promise." Flint's gentle tone eventually lulled my tears into sniffles, and we just sat on the bed for a while, him still rocking me to and fro. Soon, I heard him softy start to sing a song we both knew well, and I closed my eyes as I listened to his voice.

"_Deep in the meadow, under the willow,_

_A bed of grass, a soft green pillow._

_Lay down your head and close your sleepy eyes._

_And when again they open, the sun will rise._

"_Here it's safe, here it's warm._

_Here the daises guard you from every harm,"_

I wiped my fist across my nose and opened my lips, singing along with him for the last two lines of the chorus, our voices blending together.

"_Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true._

_Here is the place where I love you."_

Flint looked down at where he presumed my face was, and asked, "Do you feel better?"

I nodded and he slid me off of his lap, placing me on the mattress and pulling the covers up to my shoulders. Then, he smiled down at me, a smile that he reserved for only the special people in his life, it lifting the corners of his mouth farther that he usually dared them to go and crinkling the outside corners of his eyes. That smile said a thousand words and it's one of the things I loved about Flint. How he could say millions of things without even dropping a syllable.

"Goodnight, Mirabelle. Sweet dreams." He murmured and bent down to place his lips lightly on my forehead, then softly padding across the carpeted floor and closing the door quietly behind him as he left.

_Where would I be without him?_ I shook my head and closed my eyes, hoping to drift off into a dreamless sleep.

Unfortunately, not everything goes my way.

* * *

"No…no, please don't hurt me…please…."

"Stop, please, just stop! It hurts! Flint, make it stop! Make it stop, please!"

I woke up screeching, clutching the violet sheets to my chest as I tried to control the tears running over my cheeks. The nightmare…it had seemed like it was real, so real that I almost could feel the blade of the tribute's sword cutting into my arm. But then, as the tribute was going to bring down the deathblow, I looked up and caught a glimpse of their face. Cato Kingsley was smirking down at me sadistically, a scary look in his eyes.

"You thought you could win, huh? A little District 12 girl like you?" He laughed, and the slightly insane noise made me shiver. "Well, guess what, sweetheart. You were wrong."

He raised the sword above his head and brought it down so fast that I couldn't process what he was doing until I felt a sting in my chest. He'd plunged the sword through my heart. Blood began to pour from the gash, and I screamed, calling Flint's name as Cato's laughter rang in the background.

It ended there, but the scene had chilled me to the bone, making me to afraid to go back to sleep. Trying to calm myself down, I told myself over and over again that it was a dream. It seemed like it was working for a moment, but that's when I heard my door creak open. Moving my eyes over to the spot, I mused that it was probably Flint coming to console me after he'd heard my screams but the figure that stepped into the room was much to large to be him. Something silver glinted in the man's hand, and my heartbeat quickened, praying that it wasn't what I thought it was.

He came closer to me and I scooted as close as I could to the headboard, cowering against the smooth wood. As soon as he got to the headboard, I got a good enough look at the man's face, and screamed. Cato Kingsley was in my bedroom.

With a knife in his hand.

And was coming to kill me.

Leaping off of my bed, I ran from the space, opening my door as fast as I could and sprinting down the hallway, almost slipping on the wood as I did. I could hear his thumping footsteps close behind me and soon I reached the dining room, where some stray plates had been left from someone's late night snack-fest. I grabbed a knife that was lying next to a chicken-type dish and whipped myself around, the weapon aimed at my pursuer in a vital place.

Cato stopped on the opposite side of the table from where I was, holding up his hands in what I hoped was surrender and not to throw at dagger at my head. But what I saw in his hand made me want to sigh in relief and scream in anger. He hadn't been holding a knife; he'd been holding a spoon. A spoon, of all things.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed, and Cato lowered his hands, rolling his eyes slightly. That's when I remembered. Cato was District 12's new mentor. He and Haymitch must've switched places while I was asleep. Well, screw them. But I still had one question unanswered. "And what the hell is up with the spoon?"

"I was hungry so I got ice-cream. Do you consider that a crime?" He stated, and ran his free hand through his hair, the blond strands poking through his fingers. "I was coming to check on you after I'd heard you crying and yelling. It reminded me of…" He trailed off and let out a breath. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well, I don't think it was a good idea to creep into someone's room if they didn't know you were even in their apartment! And what psycho eats ice-cream-," I snuck a glance at the nearest clock, "-at four in the morning?"

"Excuse me if I didn't get the chance to eat dinner because the two tributes I was saddled with wouldn't shut up about how District 12 stole their spotlight." He went into falsetto and imitated who I guessed to be the girl tribute. "What are you going to do about it, Cato? We can't just let them do this, Cato. What about our sponsors, Cato? God, her voice is so fucking annoying."

I set down the knife I'd been clutching and began to twist a lock of hair around my finger, watching the muscular boy warily as he sat down, leaning back and pinching the bridge of his nose. It was at that moment I realized he wasn't wearing a shirt, his eight-pack (thank you to MoonByDaySunByNight for providing this information :D) staring me in the face and I felt my cheeks redden at the sight. God, he was ripped. Not in like the I-lift-ten-pound-weights-every-practice-cocky-sports-guy way, but in the I-work-out-so-hard-you-can't-even-imagine-the-pain-I-went-through-to-get-these-abs way. Every time he moved his muscles rippled and, let me be the one to say that I usually do not fall for a guy this easily, I swear I almost swooned. And maybe, just maybe, I hoped he would catch me.

"You like the view, or do I have something on my stomach?" He asked, and I snapped my head up to his face, a smirk gracing his lips. Crap, he'd caught me ogling him and he'd called me out on it. What to say, what to say?

"Yeah, like I'd ever ogle an arrogant jerk like you." I said defensively, and gave him the best glare I could muster. He just laughed and grabbed a carton of what looked to be a creamy, brown substance, dipping the spoon into it and bringing out a generous scoop, shoving it into his mouth. For a second he looked comical, like a chipmunk that was storing food for winter, and I let a smile slip onto my face. He caught it and asked, "What?"

"You look ridiculous." I said, giggling and then puffed out my cheeks to give him an example of his current expression. He grinned sloppily and said sarcastically, "Yeah, yeah, my face is hilarious."

"It is!" I was laughing hard now, clutching my stomach as the chortles intensified, and I realized that was the first time I had actually had a good laugh since this whole ordeal had started. It felt…awesome.

"Okay, don't kill yourself." He gave himself another spoonful and then held the carton out to me, asking with his mouth full of the stuff, "Do yoo wand somm?"

"Now you sound ridiculous." I made my way to a seat next to him and cautiously took the dessert from his hand, grabbing an unused spoon from next to a soup-like dish and scooping out a portion of my own. Holding the spoon in front of my mouth, I sent a look at Cato, who motioned for me to take a bite, saying, "Trust me, it's good."

"Trust you? After what I saw you do in the arena last year? That's the joke of the century." Nonetheless, I slowly let the ice-cream slide onto my tongue, then was astonished by the sweet, chocolate flavor of it. It was basically like frozen chocolate milk. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cato smile at my reaction. "Told you it was good."

"Whatever." I said, and took another spoonful, never getting sick of the taste. If it was possible for me to have it as every meal until I got into the Games, I would've. But soon, Cato asked a question that made it go bland in my mouth.

"So, what were you crying about?" He was staring at me with a concerned glint in his blue eyes, and I swallowed, thinking that to tell him the truth wouldn't be a good option. I wondered what he would think if I told him, 'I was freaked out because I was dreaming that you were killing me.' Yeah, not the best thing to say in a situation where there are sharp objects around.

"Nothing." I placed my spoon and the carton on the table in front of us and began to anxiously twirl a strand of hair around my finger again. Cato, being the smart boy he was, didn't by what I was saying and pressed, "Okay, you and I both know that was bull-shit, so why don't you tell me what really went down?"

"It was nothing, Cato. So just drop it." Standing from my chair, I was about to make my way towards the living room but Cato grabbed onto my wrist, causing me to look back at him in surprise. He glanced up at me and whispered, "I know that people don't scream like you did for nothing, Mirabelle. Clove…" He paused and sighed, "…she sounded just like that when Thresh was smashing her skull in. I hesitated a second too long and by the time I got there, she was almost dead."

His words caused me to freeze. Never would I had thought that this tough guy would've cared about someone else in the arena, someone who could've gotten in the way of his title. I mean, I'd seen the scene on TV but it didn't seem like anything special. He'd seen Clove dead on the ground, ran over to her with a pained look on his face and then ran after the guy who'd killed her. Nobody thought that he'd cared much that she had died.

"That's why I went to check on you. I went to make sure that I wouldn't see Clove lying there in that bedroom with blood pouring out of her head." Cato let go of my arm and placed his head in his hands, muttering, "I know what it's like to have nightmares about the Games. I know what it's like to dream about being killed over and over again until you just can't take it anymore."

I was stunned. This brute that had slain tribute after tribute actually had remorse and feelings pent up inside of his large frame. He actually had a heart.

"I dreamt that you'd killed me."

He looked up, a confused expression plastered to his face, and said, "What?"

"I said, I dreamt that you'd killed me." Fingering the end of my shirt, I bit my lip as I stared at the floor to afraid to see what his reaction would be as I continued on. "It felt so real, every swipe of your sword, and then the words you said…'you thought you could win? A little District 12 girl like you? Well guess what, sweetheart. You were wrong.'"

Then it hit me. Like running straight into a wall. Cato had said those words right before he'd killed Katniss Everdeen. Stabbing her straight through the heart. Just like I'd dreamed it.

Cato had seemed to know that I'd realized the similarity between my dream and his Games and murmured, "I didn't know I'd affected your district that badly. So badly that you'd remember the exact words I'd said."

"Cato, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"No, it's okay." He stood and walked over to the next room, sitting down on the couch and flipping the TV on. Caesar and Claudius were hosting an early morning talk show and actually, for the first time since I got there, I wanted them to shut up about how District 12 was so fantastic.

I followed him into the space and sat down beside him, watching the animated faces of the two men talk about mine and Flint's relationship. They were discussing the possibility that there could be a romance blossoming between us, and I gagged at the thought. There would never be anything except family love between Flint and I, and I secretly thought he had a crush on one of the girls he had talked to sometimes back in the community home. It was just so absurd that I asked Cato to change the channel.

"What, you don't agree with them?" He asked and I laughed, saying, "No, Flint and I are like brother and sister. We have absolutely no feelings for each other. Besides, the last thing District 12 needs is another pair of star-crossed lovers."

He slumped his shoulders slightly and said, "Yeah, I guess that didn't really work out, did it?"

We both became quiet after that, soaking in his words, and the meaning of them. Maybe there was a part of Cato that could feel remorse for what he had done, but from what I'd seen from his interviews and read in the magazine's that all seemed to have his face on the cover, he didn't care at all. He'd laughed in fact when they'd played the tributes' deaths after his win last year.

Finally, Cato broke the silence, and queried, "Well, do you want to go back to bed or…"

I shook my head and pulled my knees to my chest, pressing my face against the fabric of my pants. "I'm afraid to go back to sleep." I mumbled into my legs.

Thankfully, Cato didn't protest, and we just sat together on that couch, listening to the sound of Claudius's voice exclaim that the ball held for the President was going to be spectacular. Who cares about a stupid ball when there are children that are going to be murdered? Oh wait, just about everyone in the Capitol (yes I was talking to you, Effie).

"Hey, Cato? Can I ask you a question?" I asked and heard his quiet 'sure', letting me know I could go on. "Where you and Finnick both thinking that I was going to be killed in the bloodbath that day on the train?"

He blew a bit of air out of his mouth and chose his answer carefully, "If you want the truth…yes, it seemed unlikely that a girl like you would be able to make it past the first fight." A few moments of silence followed until he spoke again, his hand stroking my hair comfortingly, "But if I do anything my first year as a mentor, I'll try my hardest to get you out alive. Okay, angel?"

"No," I blurted, "No, you have to get Flint out alive. He…he deserves this more than I do."

"Are you sure?" I nodded and Cato sighed.

"Okay, then." And those were the last words said for the night, the sound of the TV being the only noise that echoed in the hollow space. A haunting reminder that all of the Capitol people were eager for blood.

Blood that was to come sooner than I would've liked.

**Ahhhh, i finally got around to giving Miri and Cato a cute little scene together, even though he kind of seemed like a murderous stalker for a part of it... but it was still cute so its all good! Well, please read, review and enjoy!**


	4. Chapter Four: A Scar in the Making

**hola, peoples! here is your next chapter, and there is again another cute scene with Cato and Mirabelle that i just had to put in:) and it was brought to my attention that some people might think that Miri and Flint would be a good couple so i created a poll and posted it to my profile page, asking which couple you like better. so check it out and please read, review and enjoy! Also, i realized that 500 people heave viewed my story and i only have 11 reviews :( so pretty please review!**

**(also, my profile pic was a dare, thx soph, but it will only be like that for a week so don't worry)**

I woke the next morning with a bright light shining into my eyes, blinking furiously to recover from the shock. Starting to lift one of my hands to rub my eyes awake, I stopped when I realized where it had been laying. Actually, it had felt like everything had just stopped when I found out where I was. To my surprise, I had fallen asleep against Cato, with his very bare chest providing warmth and a pillow for the upper half of my body. My cheek was pressed against his tan skin and he'd draped one of his arms over me, holding me to him.

As I moved slightly, Cato realized I was awake, and said, "Morning, angel." I glanced up at him and his trademark smirk was placed on his lips, causing me to flush in embarrassment and anger. Pushing myself off of his toned torso, I yawned and stretched my arms over my head, cracking my neck as I did.

"You have a red mark on your cheek." Cato rubbed his thumb gently across my skin, causing me to blush even worse. That red mark was from laying his chest and I'd bet he knew that perfectly well. God, I hated it when he had something over me. I gave him a glare and said, "That is _not_ my fault."

"What, you think I purposefully placed you on me while you slept?" He tossed me a mockingly skeptical look and stretched out his back, flexing his muscles as he leaned backwards. I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore the butterflies fluttering in my stomach, standing from the couch.

"Well, I know I didn't put myself there." Smoothing out my tangled hair, I was about to make my way from the room, when I heard Flint's voice to my right, asking, "Miri, have you been in here all night?"

I whipped around and saw Flint standing at the doorway, obviously having heard my voice from in here, and I fought the urge to cuss. Glancing at Cato, I motioned with my head for him not to make a sound, knowing that if Flint found out what had happened between us, we would have a seriously mad tribute on our hands.

"Um, I couldn't sleep, so I came in here to watch TV." I slyly left out the part about my nightmare, not wanting to worry him, and twisted the chain of my locket around my fingers, waiting for Flint's reply.

"Well, you should get ready before Effie realizes you slept on the couch the whole night." He turned to leave the room, and I began to follow him, but before he left completely, he threw over his shoulder, "Good morning, Cato. Hope you came up with an idea for our training strategy."

Then he departed without another word, leaving me speechless and Cato dumbfounded. Without knowing what else to do, I followed Flint pass the dining room and into my bedroom, where he picked up a black shirt, black workout pants with red stripes down the side, and black hunting boots, walking over and giving them to me, saying, "Put these on, okay?"

I nodded, and strolled to the bathroom, wondering if he had heard our entire conversation or if he was mad. Shucking off, my shirt, I pulled the new one on, and soon followed suit with the pants, the material clinging to my skin, slipping the boots on afterwards. I struggled not to think about how hot Cato looked with his shirt off, but sadly….wait, did I just say Cato looked hot?

I shook my head, scattering my thoughts, and walked back into the main part of my room, where Flint was standing with a brush and an elastic band in his hands. We'd performed this routine many times, so I already knew that he wanted me to stand in front of him so he could clear the knots from my hair. I winced a few times as he pulled, knowing that he was trying to be gentle and I was glad for once that he couldn't see my face.

He proceeded to braid back my hair in a French plait, carefully weaving the strands together so that they formed a nice, neat row down the back of my head. It was calming to have him do this, so familiar that I almost forgot that we weren't back in District 12, getting ready for another day of school. He secured the end with he elastic and then said, "Time for breakfast."

I gripped his hand, my silent way of telling him that I was sorry if he'd heard any of mine and Cato's conversation but he just held onto my hand also as we headed back towards the dining room, where everyone was gathered, including a shirt bearing Cato. Silently, we took our places at the table, beside each other, and two Avoxes came with our meal, it being basically the same thing we had yesterday.

"Okay, so, here's your plan for training today," Flint and I glanced up at Cato's words, staring at our new mentor as he went on, "You go straight to the weapons station and find out which ones you're good at. Don't let the other tributes see weakness, they'll prey on that."

"You want us to reveal exactly what we can do to our competition? So they can plan how to kill us ahead of time?" I asked, not even bothering with my food. He rolled his eyes and added, "They probably won't even bother you, seeing as you don't know how to use weapons yet."

I wanted to laugh in his face at what he didn't know, just to make him eat his words, but I glared down at my plate instead. I should've known that the Cato I saw last night wouldn't last into the next morning. Now, we had to deal with the arrogant jerk that he played for the cameras.

Nobody spoke for the rest of breakfast, and as soon as we'd taken our last bite, Cato had us up and out the door, with Effie calling from behind us, "Don't be late!"

We rode in silence down the elevator, the glass reflecting our sullen faces, and then stepped off onto the floor where we would train to battle for our lives. I tucked my locket under my shirt, not wanting anyone to see it or use it as an advantage to choke me. Cato glanced over at my movement and raised his eyebrows but I ignored his gaze as we entered the large room where almost all of the tributes had gathered already.

As we took our places, the tributes from two glared in our direction, obviously not happy that we had gotten their mentor while they were saddled with one from five. The girl looked especially pissed off as she glowered at me, and I gulped, knowing she was probably imagining how to kill me when the bloodbath came around. Flint heard the noise and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," I murmured and shoved the nausea I was now feeling back down to my stomach as the rest of the tributes filed in. Once we were all in our places, a woman steeped onto a raised platform in front, looking us over before she started speaking.

"My name is Atala, and I am the supervisor for the training center. There is to be no fighting between the tributes while you're here except for in the hand-to-hand combat ring, understood?" We all nodded, and Atala motioned with her hand for us to begin.

As expected, the careers all went to the weapons station and stared to mutilate the cotton dummies that were placed around the area. The boy from two picked up a spear and sent it flying at one, nailing the prop straight through the neck, a fatal blow. Cato wanted us to work with them? Ha, not going to happen.

Taking Flint's hand, I dragged him over to the knot tying station, where the trainer smiling when he saw us. He showed us a few simple ones first, coaching Flint through it by telling him how to move his hands while I mastered it easily. After a few minutes, the guy taught us more complicated ones, like one that could leave another tribute hanging by their wrists from a tree. I decided to focus on that one for a bit, while Flint gave up and told me he was going to another station.

The fire making station was next, and I seemed to be okay at it, but a one point I set the trainer's clothes on fire and she kind of flipped out, running over to the pool and jumping in to get the flames off. I slipped away to the climbing station after that incident, not wanting to bring any more attention to myself, and scaled the web-like structure in a matter of seconds. Two tributes from three and eight looked at me in awe when I was back on the ground and I gave a little bow, causing the trainer to chuckle.

I was going to try out the plant identification tent, but I felt someone's hand on my arm, tugging me in a different direction. At first I thought it was Flint but then, when I got a good look at the guy, I realized it was the boy from two, who looked like a slightly less buff version of Cato, and the rest of his friends were laughing as he dumped me at their feet. I winced when I hit the floor, surprised at the amount of force he gave that little push, and refused to let any tears fall. No weakness, Cato said, no weakness.

"Can I help you?" I asked as sarcastically as possible, causing the laughter of the careers to cease, and the boy's face went from mocking to angry. He grabbed the front of my shirt, and pulled me up to stare him in the eye, my feet dangling above the ground as we tried to out glare each other.

"Just because I can't hurt you now, little bird, doesn't mean I won't hesitate to stab a spear through your chest as soon as I get one in my hands." He hissed, his face so close I could fell his breath grace my cheeks.

"Come on, Thorn, I wanted to be the one to kill her." The girl from two was admiring a sword she'd gotten hold of and was most likely thinking of how many ways she could decapitate me with it. Thorn growled and turned to his district partner, saying, "Shut up, Azula. Can't you tell that everyone is fucking sick of your whining?"

Azula rolled her eyes and threw the sword at a dummy to her left, lodging it into the fake tributes skull. Yikes. I turned back to Thorn and inquired, "So, is there something you need or do you just enjoy gazing at my face?"

He scowled and I saw him tense as if he wanted so badly to choke me to death, muttering, "I want to make a deal. You help us pick off the other tributes; I save you for last when the time comes. I'll…_try_ to make it as painless as possible." A frightening smile came onto his lips as he said the last sentence and I heard his friends chuckle.

"What about Flint? Is there anything in this for him?" Thorn glanced over to where Flint was struggling to set up a tent, and laughed, shaking his head in disbelief, "Blind boy? He won't make it past the first night. But you," he cocked his head to the side, "you seem like you have _some_ potential."

They wanted me to conspire wit them to kill Flint. To murder the only boy I had ever called family. NO WAY. Not in this lifetime.

I scoffed, a smirk that I hoped looked like Cato's slipping onto my lips, and said, "If there's nothing in it for him, I'm out. You can take your little proposition and give to someone else because I'm not interested. Now if you don't mind, please put me down." I motioned towards my body, which was still hanging five inches off the ground, and Thorn frowned at my words, obviously not expecting them.

"You're stupider than I thought, 12, refusing to join us, and for a blind guy nonetheless," He let me drop to my feet and I stumbled a bit before regaining my balance, causing Azula and the girl from four to snicker. Glaring back up at Thorn, who stood about a foot above my height, I crossed my arms and asked, "Anything more?"

"Just one thing," Faster than I could process, he whipped a knife out of the belt he'd positioned on himself, and held it to my cheek, the tip digging into my skin. I struggled not to cry out in pain as he dragged the blade towards my chin, tears welling in my bottom eye-lid, but I didn't look away, not wanting to be a coward and back down first. Thorn stopped the knife parallel to my mouth, and I could feel blood trickle down my face and drip onto my shirt, probably creating a dark spot on the black fabric.

He grinned sadistically at his handiwork, and leaned in close to my ear, whispering, "Let's call it a reminder that I'm going to come after you first at the bloodbath, little bird. Blind boy will just have to listen to your screams as I torture you to death." He halted his speech for a moment and then added as an afterthought, "Don't forget, okay? You're _mine_."

Then, Thorn stepped back and tucked the knife back into his belt, not even bothering to clean my blood off as he said to his group, "Come on, I need to brush-off my combat skills. Vino, get ready for a beating."

They stalked off towards the combat ring and left me staring at the floor, trying to ignore the stinging in my cheek. _You're mine_. God, those words scared me. I didn't even want to think about the many ways he could make me suffer until I would go insane, screaming for Flint to come save me, even though I knew it would get him killed. I stood there until I felt someone's hand on my shoulder, and I glanced up to look at the person's face. It was Finnick Odair, to my complete surprise, and he seemed concerned as he caught a glimpse of my sliced cheek.

"Don't let them get to you. They may seem like vicious brutes but secretly, they know that death is still looming over their heads." He shifted his gaze to where the careers were cheering for Thorn as he threw Vino, the District one boy to the ground, cutting off the boy's air with one of his hands until the trainer called time. Thorn thumped his chest and jumped out of the ring, where the District one and four girls were all too happy to greet him with compliments. His eyes found me and Finnick staring in his direction and he winked at me, causing an unpleasant chill to crawl down my spine.

"I'm not so sure about that."

After training, Cato met us at the elevator, leaning against the wall as we came up to him. His expression changed drastically when he saw my face, and I sent him a look that said if-you-mention-this-went-Flint-is-in-a-range-of-hearing-I-will-end-you. Unhappily, he obliged and herded everyone into the space, pressing the button that would lead us to our floor.

"So, how was the first day of training?" He asked, sending me a glance that meant he wanted to know exactly what happened once Flint was out of earshot. I shrugged and stared out at the city as we rode upward, admiring it's beauty and hating it's being at the same time. Flint chuckled and said, "Miri set one of the trainers on fire."

Cato raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"How would you know? You weren't even at the station with me when it happened." I protested and poked him in the ribs, causing him to smile and include, "I could hear her shrieking from across the room and I thought to myself, _'Yep, it's gotta be Miri's fault.'_ You were never good with fire back home. Remember that time when you had to help with dinner and when you tried to heat the coals, you ended up being covered in soot from the explosion you created?"

I attempted to suppress a smile and failed as I defended myself, "Hey, I was only eight when it happened, and it was partly your fault! You were telling me a joke while I was doing it and I laughed at the same time I was trying to light them."

Flint let out a hoot as he recalled the fond memory, "It took forever to get the stuff out of your hair, and I swear to this day, your head still smells like a fire-place." He reached out and found my face, pinching my cheek gently right under the cut as he added, "But in a good-way."

I winced at the pain that shot up that side of my face and felt the cut re-open, but managed to let out a giggle, keeping my agony silent. Cato wasn't pleased that I was keeping it a secret, but I brought a finger to my lips, pleading with him. He closed his blue eyes for a moment, sighing, and nodded, allowing me to have some relief.

Flint picked up his release of breath and queried, "Hard day, Cato?"

Cato rubbed his palm across his features, saying while looking at me, "You have no idea."

"Well, as soon as we get back, I'm going to take a nap. Will you make sure Miri gets fed, though? She skipped lunch today, _claiming_ she wasn't hungry, but I don't want her whining later." I let one side of my mouth raise up at his sarcasm, and a ding sounded throughout the elevator car, signaling that we were at our floor.

Cato stepped off first, leading the way, and Flint and I followed after him, trailing his footsteps. I noticed that they were surprisingly light for someone of his size but before I could go into depth about the topic, we were at our room, and Effie was upon us with never-ending questions. I made sure to cover my cheek with my hand so that she wouldn't notice, but after about three questions, she asked, "Mirabelle, what are you doing with your hand?"

"I fell off of the netting during training today and my face hit the floor, so now I have a really embarrassing bruise." I said, thinking quickly, and Effie gasped, exclaiming that Cinna will have to use some kind of special make up to cover that up and how she should go tell him right now, while Flint turned to me, "I didn't hear you fall."

"It was really loud in there so you probably missed it." I waved the situation off but I knew Flint wasn't fooled completely. He didn't object though, just kissed my head and said, "Be more careful, okay?"

I nodded and he walked off to find his bedroom, leaving me alone with Cato, who, as soon as Flint had closed his door, grabbed my arm and pulled me into the nearest empty room. Which happened to be an extra bathroom. Cozy.

"What the hell went on today?" His tone was angry, and I didn't like it when he got angry. I seen enough of the angry Cato in the Games and I didn't want to see that side of him when we were in an enclosed space where he could easily kill me without anyone hearing.

"It was nothing." Wrong thing to say. Cato grabbed me and pushed me up against the wall, his hands pressing hard into my arms. His eyes had turned a scary ice-blue that seemed to pierce my skin, and I felt my heartbeat accelerate, not knowing how I felt about him being this close to me.

"Bull-shit, Mirabelle, I know something went on! I'm tired of this 'it's nothing' crap because if it was nothing, you wouldn't have a four-inch gash on your face!" He shut his eyes and took a moment to regain his composure, allowing his hands to loosen the pressure on my arms, and then finished, "What happened?"

I swallowed before saying, "The careers asked me if I wanted to join their alliance, and when I said no, that boy, Thorn…he cut me. He told me it was my reminder that I was his kill at the bloodbath."

Cato wasn't very pleased to hear the truth either.

"Why didn't you join them?" He choked out through his anger, his eyes boring into mine, causing me to falter my speech.

"I-I didn't know what to do, Cato! They said they would only offer me one and not Flint, and I couldn't abandon him like that! He's the only person I have left in my life!" A tear escaped my eyelid after my rant, and I looked away from him as another fell down my face, ashamed at myself for crying in front of him. "I'm not a District 2 tribute Cato, and you can't expect me to act like one."

I felt him guide me over to a chair that was set in a corner of the room, and let him lower me into it. He brought his thumb up to my cheek and wiped away a droplet, murmuring, "I understand…and I'm sorry for getting so angry. Sometimes, it just comes out."

He turned away and went over to a cabinet, pulling out a washcloth. Taking it over to the sink, he ran it under warm water before returning to me, kneeling down in front of me and tenderly beginning to clean my wound. I sucked in a breath at the first touch, the warmth being a bit of a shock, but stayed quiet the rest of the time as Cato cleared up the blood that had dried to my skin.

Then, he stood once more, going over to the cabinet again and rustling around for a bit longer before he came back this time with a first-aid kit. He opened the small white box, and selected a white bandage along with some sort of cream.

"This might hurt." He warned as he applied some of the cream to the gash, and I whimpered at the sharp stinging that occurred soon after. The bandage was placed on top of it and Cato gently patted it down to make sure it wouldn't come off. Once it was over, I sighed and glanced up at my mentor, who was revealing one last thing from the kit. A yellow lollipop.

I smiled as he held it in front of me, the yellow sphere reminding me of the sun, and I took it from his hand, our hands brushing for a spit second and causing my skin to flame from the contact.

"Whenever I went to the doctor back in District 2, he'd give me a lollipop for being a 'good boy' and staying strong." He chuckled lightly, "I don't know, a lollipop just seemed to make everything better, whether it be a shot, or having a gash cleaned."

He leaned in and whispered, as if from embarrassment, "When I was in the Games and had to clean up my wounds myself, I missed having someone say that I was being good and giving me a lollipop because of that. God, it sounds so silly when I say it now, but, I mean, that's how I felt."

He dropped his eyes to the piece of candy, taking a breath, and that's when I noticed the scar on his forehead, which surprised me. Usually, the Capitol uses some sort of fluid that causes all of the victor's wounds to disappear so when they come on TV for Caesar's show after the Games, they don't look like they got beaten to a pulp. The scar was thin and faint, as if it had been there for a long time, but I knew that that was the doing of the Capitol's medicines. To survive the effects of it though, it must've been a deep one and suddenly I recalled the exact moment when he had received the mark.

I lifted out my hand to touch the scar, my fingers softly grazing his skin, and caused him to look up quizzically.

"I remember when you got this." I murmured, staring at the line as my fingers moved over it, rubbing it gently as if trying to take away the pain of the long-healed wound. "You and Thresh were in that field, and he'd gotten you on the ground, cutting you deep with his knife in the head. It was that one point where we thought that Thresh might've had a chance to beat you. But you were strong and stabbed him in the back with your sword, causing him to let you go."

I let out a tiny breath as I continued, "I stopped watching after that, not wanting to see another person die, but I knew that even as you killed him, you were in pain. It wasn't like your other kills. You just wanted it to be over, for the pain to stop and for you to go home. You made it quick, merciful."

"I murdered him, Mirabelle. Just because I did it quick doesn't change the fact that I took his life." Cato's eyes had gone from piercing to heart-breakingly soft as he gazed at me, never cutting off contact with mine. I slid my hand down his face so that it cradled his cheek, and he shook his head slightly, asking, "How can you touch me like this?"

"Same way you buckle down and show me the sensitive side of you." I let my hand drop from his skin, and glanced down at the lollipop in my other one, unwrapping it and listening to the crinkling sound it made as I did. Sticking it in my mouth, the flavor of lemons soaked into my taste buds and I said, with it still on my tongue, "It's good!"

Cato laughed and ran a hand through his hair, saying with an amused look on his face, "You are a wonder, Mirabelle Reed. That you are."

**Awwwww, aren't they so cute together? I think so :) anyways time to answer reviews!**

**maddielala56: thanks for your review and your support :)**

**MoonByDaySunByNight: i absolutely love your reviews and thanks for your help with this chapter, it really helped me get through my writer's block**

**IamPiperdaughterofAphrodite: love how you use quotes from my story in your reviews! and thanks for your many reviews!**

**i know there are more people to thank, but i don't want to risk dying from embarrassment by spelling your pen names wrong, so i promise i'll get you next time!**

**xoxo**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon**


	5. Chapter Five: The Brat in Betrayal

**Guten-tag, my friends! yep, that's about all i know in german. anyways, here's chapter five and this one is a bit deeper than some of my other chapters but i hope you guys enjoy. Please read & review also!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES. SUZANNE COLLINS DOES. just for those who don't know...**

* * *

_I don't mind spendin' every day, stuck on your corner in the pouring rain; look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay awhile; And she will be loved; she will be lo-o-o-oved._

_Maroon 5, She Will Be Loved_

* * *

"I'm coming to watch you guys during training today." Cato stated as we rode down the elevator the next morning. I glanced up from biting my cuticles, which Effie had told me strictly not to do, and sent him a questioning look. Mentors usually didn't bother to watch their tributes at the center because they were off either gathering sponsors or, in Haymitch's case, getting a drunk as possible. So it was kind of a shock when Cato said it as easily as he would announce the weather.

"Any specific reason?" I asked and forced myself to put my hands down at my sides, not wanting to let my nervousness be known to the other tributes. It was just that…Thorn's words had really put me on edge ever since yesterday, and just thinking about being in the same room with him made me feel sick. Not to mention that the gash on the side of my face made everything about the whole situation just that much more terrifying.

Cato shook his head, but I knew why he wanted to be there. He wanted to be there so Thorn wouldn't try anything on me again, or, if he did, he could be there to stop it before serious damage was done. Personally, I thought it was sweet he wanted to protect me, but, thinking back on it, maybe he just wanted to make sure that his tributes didn't look like idiots in front of everyone. God, he could be so hard to read at times, making me so frustrated and confused that I just wanted to pull my hair out.

Flint didn't seem fazed by it though, just stared straight ahead at the elevator doors, deep in thought. He was probably thinking about how he was going to survive the first five minutes, or how to get me to last through the whole thing. Whatever it was, I could tell it wasn't something pleasant by the deep crease in his forehead. Grabbing his hand, I asked, "Something bothering you?"

"I'm fine, Miri. Just…thinking." He smiled down at me briefly, and I let the subject drop as the ding sounded, the doors opening and allowing us to step out of the car. Cato fell in step on my left, slowing down his large strides to match my short ones, and inquired, "So, any specific things you guys want to work on?"

"I was hoping to try some swimming, but…" I glanced sheepishly at him out of the corner of my eye, "…I don't want to look like I'm drowning."

"Well, can you swim?" I nodded, thinking of all the times I had snuck off into the woods to find this pond that I found when I was seven. The only reason I was led to it was because I had heard voices coming from that area, and decided to go check things out, only to find Katniss and her father swimming around in the water. It had been right before the mine explosion that had killed so many of our miners, and after that, Katniss never came back so it was free for me to use.

"Then it shouldn't be a problem." He said as we entered the training room, again being some of the last to come in and take their place. I saw Thorn glance over at me and he smirked when he saw the bandage on my cheek, making my stomach clench. As soon as Atala gave us the go-ahead, I bolted straight for the pool, wanting to get as far away from his gaze as soon possible. Flint had gone to the plant identification tent and Cato was lounging against the wall opposite from where the careers were training, watching their every movement.

"Hey, come to join the party?" Glancing away from Cato, I whipped myself around to see Finnick grinning at me, holding a bathing suit in his hands. I guess Cato wasn't the only mentor who stuck around to watch over his tributes. My mouth lifted slightly at the corners as he sauntered closer, looking every bit like the confident victor he was. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"They couldn't find a trainer suitable enough to work the pool, so," He held his arms out to his sides, "They called me!" Tossing the swimsuit towards me, Finnick pointed to where the bathrooms were located and said, "Go change and be back ready to work your ass off."

I threw a smile over my shoulder as I walked towards the bathroom, rolling my eyes. Soon, I'd opened the door and slipped into one of the stalls, untying my boots first as I undressed. Holding the suit out in front of me, I gathered that it was black one-piece that looked like water would just skim right over it. _Good choice, Finnick_, I thought and began to slide myself into the snug material, wondering how he knew what size to give me. Actually, I didn't want to know. Stepping out of the stall, I grabbed my clothes and was about to leave the bathroom, but a voice pulled me back, saying, "Getting ready to drown, are you?"

Flipping myself towards the sound, I almost shrieked when I saw Azula fixing her hair in the mirror, sneering at my reaction. _Why was she in here?_ No, I couldn't have let her known that I was terrified, giving her an advantage, and I doubted that my deer-in-headlights look was helping much.

"Stalking me now, are you?" I asked, and she laughed, as if it was the most absurd thing she had ever heard, pulling a knife out from under her intricately braided hair-do and stroking the blade like it were a beloved pet. Frozen to my spot, I wasn't able to do anything but stare as she held the knife to my throat, asking in an innocent voice that did not fit her actions or demeanor, "So, what's going on with you and Cato? From what I hear, you two are pretty cozy."

I swallowed against the knife, and countered, "How would you know? And why do you care about what goes on between Cato and me? Got a little crush, do we?" Azula scowled and pressed the blade deeper, but not deep enough to draw blood, just enough to taunt me with my life. Her voice came out menacing as she said her next words and, in truth, she sounded even scarier than Thorn did.

"Funny, 12. I would've thought you knew better than to mess with people who have your life in their hands. If I wanted to, I could cut your throat out right now without a second of hesitation." She tilted the blade a hair and I realized if I moved at all, I would die in a matter of seconds. My eyes widened a tiny bit in fear, and Azula laughed as she got the response she wanted. "Don't worry, I won't tell Cato about this moment until after I win. Then we can laugh about how pathetic you were together."

She lifted the knife from my skin and tucked it back into her hair, strolling towards the door and only turned back to offer a smirk and a mocking, "Ta-ta." Then the door slammed close in my face, leaving me standing alone with the terror of her words floating around me until I wanted to scream. Why were they targeting me, out of all people? I blew out a shaky breath and tried to compose myself, folding my clothes to calm down before gathering them in my arms and walking out of the room as if nothing had happened.

Setting the garments down about a foot from the pool's edge, I straightened the straps of my suit as Finnick strode to my side, handing me what looked like a tricked out version of glasses, the lenses and sides silver and an elastic-type band to secure them around my head.

"They'll help you see underwater." He explained, sensing my question, and I marveled at the thought. But of course the Capitol would have devices like such, so why was I so surprised? I tried to fasten them around my head but had a bit of a struggle, causing Finnick to step in and make sure they were positioned correctly. Then, he slapped me on the shoulder and said, "Okay, I want you to swim to that wall and back as fast as you can for me. Can you do that?"

I nodded and checked that the end of my braid was secure before standing at the edge of the water, readying myself. Finnick stood to my right, holding a stopwatch in his hand, and held up his hand as if it was a flag. He brought it down with a whoosh, yelling, "Go!" and I dived, slicing into the water with a gracefulness I didn't know I had. I glided through the clear blue liquid for a second, then broke the surface, my arms propelling me faster and faster until I reached the pool wall. Following my instincts, I flipped forward right before I touched the gravelly substance and pushed off in the opposite direction, towards my starting point. At times I felt like I was flying, like I was so fast and invincible that no one, not even Thorn, would be able to break me.

My lungs were beginning to catch flame as I went into the home-stretch, but I pushed through, kicking my legs as hard as I could and hitting my hand against the edge of the wall at full-speed, signaling Finnick to stop the timer. I lifted myself out of the pool and sat with my feel dangling in the water, breathing heavily while asking, "How…did…I do?"

Finnick seemed to be in disbelief, glancing at me, then the timer, and then back at me. He ignored my question and instead called, "Cato! Would you come look at this?"

I swiveled my head to see Cato break into a jog across the floor, stopping beside Finnick and querying, "What's the problem? Did she scrape herself on the edge or something?" He began to bend down to inspect me for injuries, but his friend pulled him back up straight, shoving the timer in his face.

"Twenty-five seconds, Cato. Twenty-five seconds! That's how long it took her to swim 50 meters. It took me at least five years at the academy to even come close to that time." Finnick ran a hand through his brown locks and added, "If there's water in the arena, she'll be set. Even Coral and Eric aren't that fast!"

"I didn't have a time like this until I was sixteen." Cato mumbled, and then shook his head, kneeling down and asking me, "Can you do it again for us?"

Not wanting to waste any of my breath, I bobbed my head and let Cato help me to my feet, waiting for him to set the timer before I dived in again. When I got back the second time, their reactions were even more expressive.

"Twenty-four! Cato, you seriously have to let the Gamemakers know about this. It could be one of the only things that could keep her alive in there!" Finnick insisted, but I was too tired to even keep up with their conversation. When I'd pulled myself out of the water and taken off the underwater glasses, I couldn't even sit up, just laid there, with my good cheek pressed against the cold floor as I struggled to control my breathing. I just wanted to go to sleep, right there, but Cato wouldn't have it.

"Come on, angel, don't pass out on me now." He hoisted my up by placing his hands under my shoulders, and I gripped his arm while trying to stay on my feet without falling over. Sprinting two of those as fast as I could in a row was not a good idea. I felt like every part of my body was jelly, and I began to succumb to lightheadedness as I fell against Cato, who caught me while saying, "Mirabelle, you gotta stay awake for me, sweetie."

I nodded and blinked my eyes a couple times before I started to feel more like my normal self, a bottle of water somehow ending up in my line of vision. Forgetting about how tired I was, I lunged for the bottle and chugged it, every last drop flowing down my throat in a constant stream. Cato chuckled and said, "I'm gonna leave you in Finnick's hands now, but I'll be watching to make sure he doesn't cause you to black out."

He passed my fatigued form to Finnick's arms and then walked off towards Flint, who was trying to use a bow and arrow and wasn't having such a good time with it. God, I hoped he could learn to use at least one weapon before we went into the arena, or it was going to be a lot harder to keep him alive than I thought.

"So, how about we get back in the water and work on some distance?" Finnick asked and I looked up at him, saying, "You heard what he said. I'm not planning on passing out any time soon."

He just laughed and patted my back, gently pushing me toward the pool, saying, "Get going or I'll make sure that happens, sweetheart."

* * *

An hour later, I was mindlessly throwing back bottle after bottle of water, as if I could never get enough. Finnick had run me through sets of eight laps, which he called 200's, sixteen laps, 400's, and twenty laps, 500's. Once he knew what I was capable of after I swam the first part of each set, he kept decreasing the amount of time that I had to make it back in. 'Building my stamina' he called it. Yeah, well, I saw it as trying to make me as tired as possible and then saying, 'alright, one more time.'

Flint swirled his spoon around in the creamy soup that he was given and asked me, hearing my incessant gulps, "Finnick work you hard?"

"You…have no…idea." I said between chugs, and took a break to breathe, my wet hair hanging in my face since I took it out of the braid after I'd changed. I didn't want to look like a frizzy freak the next morning, so I'd decided to let it dry naturally and not risk Effie's wrath.

"Well, at least you found something you could actually do well." He sighed and spooned a bit of soup into his mouth, swallowing then adding, "It seems like none of these station are equipped for blind people. What incompetence." He chuckled, but I knew that it was hurting him, not being able to use anything and looking like a fool in front of everyone. What was he going to do for his individual evaluation?

"You'll find something, Flint." I touched his arm and squeezed it in reassurance, causing him to smile at me and shake his head, murmuring, "How you have such optimism in you, I will never know."

I giggled softly, then stood, taking my uneaten chicken entrée and moving to dump it in the trash, telling him, "All that water is making me really need to go to the bathroom, so I'll be back." He nodded and I left, tossing my food into the trash and placing my dish on a conveyor belt that took it off to the kitchens to be cleaned. I actually _really_ had to go, so I practically sprinted to the restroom, and was about to open the door when I hear voices coming from inside. In fact, at that moment, a _male's_ voice.

Curious, I cracked the door open a little bit, hoping whoever it was couldn't see me, and my jaw almost dropped when I did see who it was. Azula and Cato were conversing inside the spacious restroom, but because of Cato's muscular build, he made the place look small. He seemed angry about something, but Azula was strangely calm in his presence, as if she saw him in that mood everyday.

"I'm not your mentor any more, Azula. I can't do any more to help you." Cato ran a hand through his hair, "Besides, from all the times I saw you fight at the academy, I think you're pretty much set for the Games."

"Come on, Cato, can't you just…tweak the odds in my favor? It's the least you can do, after all that time we spent as a couple." She reached her hand out and ran her hand along his arm, letting her fingers drag over his muscles. Wait…they had a past together? Didn't see that one coming.

"Really? You want me to sabotage their chances of winning? That's a new low for you, Az, real low." Cato shrugged away from her touch and she pouted, probably thinking that it made him rethink his actions. Actually, she looked kind of like a duck. But, to give her credit, she did think quickly and said, "That girl, she's no one. Thorn is going to make sure she won't even last through the first night. Why waste your time on her, when you could help me? Rekindle what we had?"

He glanced down at her for a second before running his palm over his face, leaning against the sink behind him. "You don't know her. You can't…you can't see her pain." Had he really been paying that much attention to me? I hadn't told him a lot about my life back in District 12 so was my pain just projected on my face as I walked around everyday? Azula came closer to him and for a second her eyes flitted over to the door, catching sight of me before I could leave, and malice flashed through her eyes.

She pushed her hands through his hair and brought his face to hers, whispering, "You know you still have feelings for me, Cato. So why not just do this…" Then, she kissed him. Full out kissed him, right in front of me. And what's worse, he didn't push her away. My stomach dropped, and I felt something in my chest start to burn. It was like my heart was being squeezed until it would burst. But, I don't know why I was feeling like that, I mean, Cato and I…we could never have something. We hadn't even known each other for a week.

So why did it feel like my heart was breaking?

At that moment, I knew I hated Azula. I hated her with a passion and I was going to make sure she would pay for spiting me in this way. For using what feelings I had for Cato against me to hurt me in the long run. To twist the odds in her favor. The slut.

Suddenly, Cato broke off the kiss, stepping away from her and saying, "Azula, I can't… not when I have to mentor…"

"Why can't you see that we can be something together? Why can't you just…just let go, Cato? Don't you love me?" She went into kiss him again and this time I had to turn away, not wanting to see anymore for the threat of tears beginning to drip down my face. I heard him yell something and then his thumping footsteps, and realized I would have to move quickly before I was found out.

I ran back to the lunchroom, and silently sat back down in my seat next to Flint, who had now halfway finished his soup. He titled his head when he heard my rustling but didn't say anything, just kept eating his meal in peace, as I stared down at my hands. I had to get that out of my head if I wanted to stay focused, if I wanted to get Flint out alive. I had to focus all of my time on training, learning as many things as possible to help Flint and I in the arena. I didn't have any spare time to worry about Cato and Azula, and whatever romance they had.

Someone slipped into a chair on my right, and I didn't have to glance up to see who it was.

"You guys ready to work with weapons for the second half? I was thinking of taking you, Flint, to work on the obstacle course, since you could hear the trainers throwing things at you, and Miri, I want you to-" Cato began, but I interrupted, standing again, for the second time, and saying, "I'm going to work on hand-to-hand combat today. I want to see what I can do under pressure."

He seemed a little taken aback by my words, but nodded and asked, "Okay, any idea which tribute you want to challenge?"

Once he said those words, an idea popped into my head. What better way to get my anger out at Azula than to face her in the ring? Wait, what was I thinking? I was going to get my butt kicked if I did that…but, just to see her get hit once by my hand would be worth it.

"I think I have the perfect person in mind."

* * *

Half an hour later, Azula and I were standing across the combat ring from each other, an arrogant sneer on her face as she sized me up. Obviously, she didn't think I was competition at all, but I was about to prove her wrong. So wrong.

The trainer stood between us, in the middle of the ring, and raised the whistle to his mouth, the signal for us to go at it.

"Ready, 12?" Azula called mockingly, and checked over her fingernails, as if that fight was going to be a piece of cake.

"You're about to find out." I answered and prepared myself for her to run at me. She laughed, rolling her eyes at my words and stretched out her muscles before nodding her head to the trainer. I did the same, and the man stepped to the edge of the ring, Cato and Flint standing on his left, anxiously waiting for the fight to be over with.

The whistle echoed through the tense air and sent Azula running at me, throwing a punch at my head. Knowing she was going to do something obvious like that, I swerved and ducked under her swing, giving me an advantage as she had to whip around to get a good throw at me again. This time she tried to use her leg to swipe my feet out from under me while simultaneously tossing her fist out towards my stomach, but I dodged both with a turn to the left. She was getting a bit mad by that point, having not even caused a scratch on my skin, and I knew she was itching to take that knife from her hair and stab me with it to get the fight over, but it was against the rules, hence the _hand-to-hand_ in the activity's title.

Azula made another run at me, but this time, she faked her first throw, which I had dodged, and thrusted another one into my side, causing me to wince. From the force of the hit, I knew there was going to be a bruise there later, but I didn't have even a moment to think about it because before I knew it, she was jutting her hand out towards my face, her knuckles barely missing my nose as I maneuvered out of her line of fire.

"Getting tired of playing on the defense, 12?" Her tone was biting as she faked me out again, her fist hitting me square in the chest and knocking the breath right out of me. "Why not throw a punch?"

I struggled to not make any noises of pain, for Flint's sake, but when she smacked me in the kidney, a choked cry came out of my throat. The careers had stopped their training to watch now, probably finding that seeing a girl from a lesser district get beaten up was way more interesting than mutilating dummies. Jeering, they called Azula's name, egging her on to finish me off, to knock me out cold. Every time I heard their voices, a small part of me gave up, knowing that it was near impossible for me to win the fight, but then I thought of what Cato would think if I gave up. Would he even help me get sponsors or would he be too embarrassed to even try?

"You're making this way too easy." She taunted, sending the heel of her boot into my back, causing me to fall on my hands and knees, whimpering as I hit the ground. "Just think how easy it will be to kill blind boy once I get you out of the picture. It's a pretty sight to imagine, isn't it, him on the ground, dead…"

Okay. She had just crossed a line. A line that specifically said if-you-cross-bad-things-will-and-I-mean-_will_-happen-to-you. Fiery anger built up inside of me until it threatened to burst from my skin, and, ignoring my pain, I stood, catching Azula off guard. Without warning, I let my fist tear through the air, straight into the side of her face, and the blow sent her stumbling back a few steps, her hand cradling her wounded cheek.

I didn't even wait for her to recover as I dealt out the next throw, my fist hitting her in the gut and causing her to cry out. For a girl who claims she's such a good fighter, she sure has a low pain-tolerance for when someone fights back. I sent a kick at her and she lost her balance, falling to the ground, obviously still in shock from how I'd gotten a hit at her, and struggled to get up, her pride being the only thing keeping her going. Before she could stand though, I shoved my boot on top of her, applying pressure to keep her on the mat, and she glared up at me as I stared down at her.

"Don't _ever_ talk about him like that again, or you'll regret each and every word." I hissed, and waited until the trainer called time, lifting my boot off of her and walking off the floor towards Cato and Flint, whose faces looked shocked, horrified and immensely glad about what the outcome had been. I was about to go tell Flint that my injuries weren't that bad and console him, but suddenly a pair of arms wrapped tightly around my neck, cutting off any tunnel that my lungs had provided for air to get to them. Clawing at the person's arm, I attempted to breathe, it probably ending up in me looking like a gaping fish out of water, and I saw Cato immediately leap into action as the person dragged me to the ground, most likely to get better leverage as they tried to choke me to death.

"You regret your words now, 12?" I hear a vicious voice whisper in my ear, and I recognized it as Azula's. The careers weren't jeering now, realizing that one of their own had been beaten and was possibly going to be in some type of serious trouble for pulling this prank on me. Black spots were now beginning to spurt across my vision, and I dug my fingernails deeper into her arm, silently begging her to let go.

"Azula, stop!" I heard Cato yell, but it sounded more like a murmur from my standpoint, the strangulation affecting my hearing by that time. Flint had run over to where the commotion was occurring, and was tugging at Azula's arms, his eyes searching frantically for my face in a world where he could see nothing. I felt horrible for him, knowing that he was going to have to go through something like this in the arena when I actually died. That is, if I didn't die on the floor of the training center.

"Let go of her!" Cato's voice was fading and getting more distorted with each second passing by, and even though my vision was cloudy, I could see that every tribute had come over to see the event that was unfolding. Above me, Flint's mouth was moving, but I couldn't hear his words, and my slowing heartbeat taking the place of his voice. Just as I thought that she actually, was going to kill me, I felt the glorious air enter my lungs, and I started to cough, my breaths ragged as Azula was dragged away from me.

Flint instantly took me into his arms, hugging me close, and whispering, "I thought you were dead. Oh god, I thought that she'd killed you as soon as I didn't hear you breathing." He kissed my forehead and pulled me to him again. I wanted to comfort him by saying something, but the coughing wouldn't allow it. I felt someone else's hand touching my back, and I managed to lift my head up to see Cato's concerned face, his forehead creased.

"Mirabelle, I'm so sorry." He said, looking ashamed, and, if I didn't know better, it sounded like he was apologizing for kissing Azula along with being sorry for what she just did.

"It's…okay, Cato," I coughed out, my voice hoarse, and that caused him to deepen the crease in his forehead. Suddenly, the coughing fit took hold of me again, and my body began to shake with the force of the convulsions.

"I'm taking you back to the room." Cato decided, and took me from Flint's arms, but as soon as he'd lifted me against his chest, Flint began to protest.

"No." He growled, and reached for me, but Cato stepped back, saying, "Flint, think about what's best for her. She needs rest…"

"You expect me to trust her with you, with anyone, after what just happened? Cato, that girl you used to mentor almost killed my Miri. You can't just expect me to stay here and train in the same room as her when she almost killed the only person I can call family!" Flint's face contorted into the angriest look I'd ever seen on his face, and I touched his arm, saying, "Flint, you…you need to train. I'll be okay…just train…"

He turned his gaze to me and it immediately softened, using the sound of my haggard breathing to guide his hand to my face, his fingers gently rubbing over my skin. I let out another scary sounding cough, wondering if Azula also was going to use that move to make me cough to death, and Flint closed his eyes, sighing.

"Take her. But if she gets any worse, there's going to be hell to pay." He kissed my forehead one last time, and allowed his hand to drop from my face, Cato proceeding to carry me from the room, all of the tributes staring at us as we left. Thankfully, Finnick yelled at all of them, "What are you all looking at? Get back to training!"

Silently, I thanked him and coughed again as Cato's strong arms tightened around my small frame, listening to his voice as he said, "You're going to be okay, angel. I promise."

I tilted my head back to catch a glimpse of his face and he was staring straight ahead at the elevator, but the concern was still evident on his face. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I whispered to him, "Thank you."

Glancing down at me, his face bore a confused expression, and he asked, "What for?"

"For being there when I couldn't see what was coming." I coughed and had to pause for a second. "There's going to come a time in the arena when that's going to happen again, and I know that in there, you won't be able to save me, so, thank you for doing it this time."

There was a silence after my words, knowing he was absorbing them, and once we entered the elevator, Cato finally said, "You're welcome, Miri."

And for once in my life, I actually felt like someone, besides Flint, cared about what would happen to me, whether I would die or survive these Games, or even survive life. I would be remembered in this boy's memory no matter what the outcome of my life ultimately was, and knowing that, the thought sent me warmly to sleep.

**sorry, this was one of my longer chapters, suffered from a writing frenzy, but i hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you to everybody who reviewed, it really meant a lot to me that you guys took your time to tell me your thoughts (whether they be nice or not :]) and please keep telling me what you think! it really helps a lot when i have to write a new chapter and it doesn't hurt to PM me some ideas that u want me to put in the next chapter, so go ahead! anyways, love you all and a new chapter will be up soon!**

**xoxo**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon**


	6. Chapter Six: A Slip in the Plan

**Hola everyone! i know it's taken me like a week to create this chapter for you guys but i had a severe case of writer's block and my brain just did not want to co-operate, so i sincerely apologize to you all. anyways, hope you guys like the chapter and thank you so much to all of my faithful reviewers for sticking with me and my story. So, as always, read, review, and enjoy! :)**

**A/N: I do NOT own the hunger games. Though it would be freaking awesome if i did and i would've made them cast me as Katniss for the movie :) **

_I freeze when I hear the scream, knowing exactly who it is once the sound fills my ears, and I immediately whip myself towards the noise. Suddenly, my body turns ice cold as more screams follow and my heart wrenches at the sounds. I have to get to him; I have to stop those screams of pain. Taking off into a run, I push through the forest, my boots crunching the leaves under my feet, and I heard someone call, "Miri, no!" from behind me. But I ignore them, focusing only on getting to him, to making sure he was alive until the very end. I promised him, I promised myself that I would get him out, and I would be gone from this world before that happened._

_I tear through a dense patch of foliage, getting closer to his yelps, and I pray to myself, _please don't be dead, please._ If the person who'd hurt him was still there by the time I got there, I swear I would kill them, torture them until they begged for mercy. That scream echoed again and this time I just can't hold my voice in, calling out, "I'm coming!"_

"_Mirabelle!" He screams, and I run faster, my heartbeat accelerating as I reach the small clearing, where I see a sight that makes my stomach drop. Flint is on the ground, a huge gash cutting through his chest, and he reaches a hand out to me, whispering, "Miri…"_

_But who I see next to him scares and angers me more than Flint's condition. Azula is smirking at me, holding a sword covered in Flint's blood, and says, "How's this for a show?"_

"_No!" I shriek, and move to grab the knife hidden in my boot, but I'm unable to budge from my position. Azula laughs and scampers away into the woods, leaving Flint dying on the forest floor while I am forced to be motionless, watching his eyes slowly close and the rise-and-fall of his chest decrease with every breath._

"_No, Flint, please!" I cried, falling to my knees, and started to sob, my tears coming out as blood instead of water, filling my vision until all I could see was red. The red of Flint's blood as it poured from his chest…_

"No!" I thrashed against my sheets as I woke, my mind still in my dream, and I let out a scream as I clawed at my bedspread. The pound of footsteps sounded and I heard my door being flung open, the footsteps coming closer and closer to my distraught form. Somebody took me in their arms and, thinking it was an attacker, I lashed out, throwing my fists towards them, yelling, "Go away! Go away!"

"Miri…it's me, just stop thrashing, please…OW! God damnit!" My eyes flicked open at his outburst, and I saw Cato cradling his eye with his palm, grimacing in pain. Guilt creeped into my chest and I whispered, "I-I'm sorry…I thought you were-"

"No, it's okay. But you have a really good arm for someone your size." His familiar smirk slipped onto his lips, and he pulled back his hand from his eye, saying, "God, that really hurt."

"I'm sorry. I…I didn't know it was you. I thought…" I trailed off, biting my lip as I saw his eye beginning to bruise, and again, the guilt clawed at me. Oh god, if I felt that bad about punching someone, I would never make it in the arena. My fingers reached out and gingerly touched the tender area, the remorse growing as he sucked in a breath at my contact. "Are…are you sure that you're okay?"

"Angel, I hardly think that your punch was enough to harm me seriously." He took my hand gently away from his face and held it in his for a moment, glancing down at my skin with his eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" I asked, but he just shook his head in response, saying nothing, and looked back up at me. "What did you dream about this time?"

I tensed at his words, wanting so badly to say nothing and move onto a different topic, but I knew from past times that Cato didn't particularly like that answer. He rubbed his thumb tenderly over the back of my hand, trying to coax it out of me, and finally, reasoning with myself, I sighed. "I was…I was running through the woods, hunting or something, when I heard a scream. I knew who it was right after I heard it, and I ran to try and save them…before it was too late."

Pausing, I fought against the tears burning behind my bottom eyelid, but failed as one fell down my face, causing more to follow. A sob came out through my throat, and I struggled to finish, "She'd killed Flint…Azula h-had killed him, a-and I c-couldn't move…I couldn't save h-him. I…I had to w-watch as he died right in front of me. It was like a f-form of t-torture created specifically for me…"

Tears were flowing freely down my cheeks by that point, and Cato pulled me towards him, wrapping his arms around me and whispering comforting words to stop my sobs, "Shh, it's okay, Miri. It was just a dream, everything's fine. Shh, angel, you're gonna be okay."

"No! That's the problem Cato! I'm not going to be okay!" I pushed away from his chest to look him in the eye, his face blurry through my tears. "There's going to come a time in the arena where I am going to _die_. Die, as in be gone from the world forever. As in_ never coming back_."

His face had dropped any traces of the guy he played for the Capitol cameras, and his hand connected with my cheek, his thumb gently stroking back-and-forth against my skin. "Miri, it doesn't have to be that way…"

"Yes it does! Flint has to come out of the arena alive! He needs, he _deserves_ this more than I do, Cato. If he died in front of me like in my nightmare, I…I would go insane and probably hurt myself to be with him-"

"Mirabelle, stop it! I don't want to hear you talking about killing yourself!" Cato tightened his hold on my cheek, his other hand joining the first so that his palms embraced my face. As I stared into his piercing blue eyes, I noticed that he was scared, which surprised me because never in my life had I seen a victor from District 2 look frightened. They always were confident and cocky, playing the audience with their charm and wooing the Capitol citizens. Not once had I seen one look remotely scared about anything.

"Cato, you have to realize that I'm not coming back! You have to face it sooner or-"

"Stop it! Just shut up!" He yelled and tore his hands away from my face to run them agitatedly through his own hair, standing from the bed with his muscles rigid. I sat there, stunned at his outburst and could only watch him as he pressed his forehead to the wall, his body getting tenser by the minute. His hands had curled into fists, as he placed them parallel with his head, and in an eruption of anger, he slammed one against the wall and roared, "Damnit, Mirabelle! I'm sick and tired of talking about death! I've saw enough in two weeks to last more than a lifetime and I don't want to watch someone who I've become close to be killed in the most gruesome way possible. But you know where I'll be? I'll be in a room forced to sit and do nothing while you let Thorn cut off your head!"

"You don't think I've seen any death in my life, Cato?" I asked, standing from my spot, "You don't think that I've seen horrible things back in District 12 that I wish I could erase from my memory?"

He scoffed, obviously still angry, and countered, "Oh really? You've seen your district partner's skull smashed in back in your tiny, pathetic district?"

Okay, that stung. I knew my district didn't produce many victors but it wasn't pathetic, even in the smallest way. Marching up to face him, his stature towering over me by a foot, I stared him in the eye and said, "No, I've seen worse. I've seen kids be locked in closets for over three hours because they were late two minutes for dinner. I've seen children beaten till they bled because they forgot to say ma'am at the end of their thank you. I've seen little boys and girls _starve_ to death because there wasn't enough food to go around at mealtimes. Their bodies go cold in the middle of the night and nobody realizes they're dead until they don't get up to do their morning chores. Then they're thrown into the street to rot because they don't have a family to bury them."

Cato's face dropped its fury at my words, his eyes widening in shock as I went on.

"Flint heard his mother be whipped to death when he was seven years old, and he still hasn't forgotten how her screams sounded. He still mumbles in his sleep about how much he misses her, about how much he hates the community home we're stuck in because we don't have any relatives left to take care of us."

I paused to take a breath before continuing the most difficult part of my rant, the part that brought the most horrible memories of my childhood to the surface, causing them to open old wounds that still burned like they were fresh.

"I saw my parents die right in front of me, Cato, both with bullets to the head. And you know what their crime was? Trying to keep enough food on the table to keep us alive! Do you know what that experience did to me? Seeing both my parents lying lifeless on a makeshift stage while some Peacekeeper takes me to a hell they call the community home? The gunshots that killed them echo in my head to this very day and there's nothing I can do but try not to let my sobs wake the other orphans as I relive that moment in my dreams! Over and over again I see them die and I can never stop those bullets from entering their skulls!"

Cato was silent at my tale, but I could tell from the look in his eyes he was regretting ever asking me that question about my 'tiny, pathetic district.' His muscles had released their tightness and an apologetic expression crossed his face as he looked down at me, beginning to say, "Miri, I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"I was only five years old. Five, Cato. Did you ever think that I would have a chance to see them again if I died, to be reunited with my family after nine years?" I asked, and a final tear slipped down my cheek, making my statement almost too painful to say.

"What's going on in here?" Whipping myself around, I saw Flint standing in the doorway to my bedroom, his broad frame leaning against the wood. "I thought I heard someone yelling."

Bounding away from Cato, I ran to the only person I can call my brother and threw my arms around him, burying my face into his chest like I did when I was a little girl. He seemed a bit surprised by my rash action, but didn't protest as he wrapped his arms around my small frame, one of his hands stroking my tangled hair comfortingly. "Miri, you okay?"

"Please don't die. Please." I pleaded into his soft, cotton t-shirt and listened to the sound of his heartbeat, the thumps reassuring me that for the moment he wasn't going anywhere.

"Sweetie, I'm fine. I'm not going to die." How badly I hoped those words to be true. I nodded against his shirt and Flint kissed the top of my head, asking, "Why, did you have a nightmare?"

Peeking out of his chest, I glanced at Cato, who was staring at us as he stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, and sent him a look that said please-don't-tell as I answered Flint's question. "No, I'm okay."

"Good. Now, do you think we could get a smile on that face of yours?" I heard the grin in his voice and was about to object, but it was too late before I could get the words out of my mouth. His fingers attacked my sides, tickling me and causing my laughter to ring in the spacious room, along with my giggled shouts of 'NO!'

"Well, I think I'm going to go back to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning." Cato said, rubbing his neck and moved to leave the room, but before he left, I halted my giggles long enough to choke out, "You don't have to leave."

He let his eyes travel back and forth from Flint to me, and sighed, running his hand through his blond locks again, his eyes sad as he looked at us. It almost looked like longing, like he wanted something similar to what Flint and I had, a close-knit family. My heart ached for him as he said, "No, I need to think about some things. Don't stay up too late, okay?"

Then, he left, his shoulders more slumped than I had ever seen them, and even as Flint tucked me into bed later, the image of his sad, longing eyes haunted my thoughts as I wondered what he had went through to make them like that. Or maybe, it was so horrible that I didn't want to know.

* * *

"Hey, Cato?" I asked at lunch, taking a sip of my water bottle as I waited for him to respond. He'd stayed to watch our training again, and to my displeasure had encouraged Finnick in working my butt off, but it was nice to have his presence around, especially since Azula had given me the death glare as soon as I'd stepped into the room. I'd heard that she'd been given a punishment by one of the Gamemakers but I didn't know what it was, though I'm sure it was horrible. Thorn didn't seemed too pleased with me either, a spear never leaving his hands as he trained, his eyes locked onto my frame to make sure I was watching whenever he plunged one into a dummy's stomach. _You're mine._ Every once in a while when I saw him mutilate one, my fingers would travel to the cut on my right cheek, tracing it faintly as I recalled those two frightening words.

Cato glanced up from eating a plate of noodles with some type of red sauce, and wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, giving me his full attention while saying, "Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you could…" I trailed off as I saw the careers glaring at me again, but this time instead of a spear, Thorn was fiddling with a knife, and once he caught my gaze, he plunged the blade into a slice of chicken on his plate, the utensil sticking sickeningly out of the meat at a right angle. I winced when he did that, and Cato must've caught my facial movement because he took my chin in his hand, turning my head to face him and saying, "Forget about him. What do you want me to do?"

"I was wondering if you would help me sharpen my skills with the weapons." Glancing back at the careers out of the corner of my eye, I gulped as I finished, "But not during the actual training period."

Cato let go of my chin and asked, "So, a time like, now?"

"Essentially…" I nodded, and I guess that was all of answer Cato needed before switching on the inner career tribute in him and standing from the table, motioning for me to follow him. Looking back at Flint, I saw him signal with his head that he had heard everything and that it was okay for me to go, and I squeezed his arm in a silent thank you. Then I trailed Cato's footsteps back into the main training room, where he had immediately gone over to grab me some weapons to sample. I wanted to tell him that my specialty was a knife, but he seemed like he wanted me to try all of them anyways, so I kept quiet as he came back with a sword, a spear, a few knives, a bow and arrow, and an axe.

"Okay, go ahead and pick one. Doesn't matter which, but what I want you to do is aim for one of the dummies and try to hit it in the chest. Can you do that?" He asked, rubbing his hands together and I nodded for the ump-teenth time that day. I proceeded to pick up the sword, grasping the handle in my palm, but as soon as I tried to lift it from the table, my arm gave out from its weight.

Annoyed and embarrassed from my lack of strength, I attempted to raise it again, but this time I twisted my wrist and hissed as I bended it too far, causing Cato to step in and take it from my hand. "I don't think swords are for you."

"Aren't there any lighter ones?" I queried as I massaged my wrist, but my comment caused an amused look to conquer his face. "That was the lightest one, angel."

Great. Way to make a fool of yourself, Mirabelle. Way to go.

"Kay, then." I hefted the spear in my good hand, it not being that much lighter than the sword, and walking over to the dummies, picking out on that was a good twenty feet away. Hoping to impress him, I elongated my arm and threw the weapon as hard as I could, wanting it to hit the target where I had aimed. Sadly, it cleared about six feet and dropped to the ground.

I blushed even before I heard the stifled chuckled of the man behind me and I turned with my arms crossed to face him, defending myself, "So I'm not the most muscular person in the world."

"You can swim but you can't throw for shit." He laughed, but instantly placed his hand shamefully over his mouth, his eyes being the only thing giving away how funny he thought this actually was. Becoming humiliated, I huffed, "Well, are you going to just stand there and giggle like a little girl or help me?"

He held up his hands in surrender, a smile plastered to his lips, and he went to retrieve the spear, jogging back to me once he had it in his grip. Thrusting it back into my palm, he positioned me fingers around it so that it was steadier within my grasp. What a difference finger disposition makes.

"Okay, you want to stand with your hips facing diagonal from your target." He had moved behind me by that point, standing dangerously close to my figure, and my breath quickened as he placed his hands on my hipbones, turning me slightly to my right. His breath sent a shiver through me as he spoke into my ear, saying, "Next, raise your arm so that the spear is aiming at the target where you want it to, like this."

One of his hands slid up under my arm, grazing along my skin as he lifted it, his touch lingering as he moved onto the next and final step. "Lastly, you need to lean back about an inch," He pulled me gently back towards him a bit, my back leaning against him in a position where I could feel his abs ripple as he moved, "…and then….throw."

He propelled my arm in the direction of the dummy, the sleek wood of the staff drifting through my fingers as it torpedoed toward its target. I could hear his sigh of triumph as the spear lodged into the dummy's neck, and he whispered, "See, it's that easy. 1, 2, 3."

Realizing I was about to lose control of my emotions, I stepped away from his muscular body and brushed a stray lock of hair that had fallen loose from my braid behind my ear, saying, "Um, thanks. So, which one's next?"

He glanced over at where he'd placed the remaining weapons and reached out towards one of the knives, picking up a slender one with a hilt made from leather. Similar to the one I used back home to hunt with. Knowing I could surprise him with one, I anxiously waited for him to give it to me, but instead of doing that, he just stared down at it, murmuring, "She used this knife last year, for her individual evaluation…"

At first I didn't know who he was talking about, but then I remembered that Clove's weapon of choice was also a knife. I wanted to say something that would take the bad memories of her death away for him, but before I could, he just shook his head and placed the knife in my hand, saying a bit more gruffly than I think he intended, "Show me what you got."

Once the feeling of worn leather hit my skin, I instantly felt calmer, all the years of hunting flooding back into my bones. I knew exactly how to take out those dummies one by one, but I would just have to settle for hitting only one, not wanting to become like a career and go crazy with the thirst for blood.

I selected another dummy, this one about thirty feet away, and positioned myself like how I usually did when I when hunting back home, my wrist tense as I got ready to let the knife fly. Then, faster than most people could process, I flicked my wrist and the knife sped towards the cotton form, piercing the fake-tribute in the jugular, causing what would be a fatal blow and the victim to bleed out in less than five minutes.

Spinning around to face my mentor, I waited for him to close his jaw before I said smugly, "And that's not even a sixteenth of what I know how to do."

He ran his eyes back and forth between the dummy and me, blowing a low whistle as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Well, aren't we just full of surprises?"

"I think after you see my training score, you'll be saying I'm full of a lot more than surprises."

* * *

Cato said I would be fine. He said that I was prepared enough for this and that I could do well. I had the potential to get a great score and rival the best of the careers. Then why was I shaking like a leaf?

Flint had grasped my hand somewhere between the District 4 and 5 tributes' evaluations, and I was clutching for dear life, probably cutting off his circulation. But being the sweet boy he was, he didn't complain. I wondered how he wasn't freaking out, sitting there so calm next to me while, to my knowledge, he still had no idea what to do once he got in there. Maybe they would cut him some slack because of his disability and give him a decent score out of pity. I knew Flint wouldn't want it to be that way, though. He wanted to show these people that he could do it himself, that a blind boy could be a contender in the games.

"You're going to do fine, Poppy. Now, go get 'em." The hulking boy from 11 good-naturedly patted his district partner on the shoulder as she stood to take her turn in front of the Gamemakers. She smiled nervously back at him in thank you and I could tell she was shaking as she left to enter the room that held her fate. I never really paid attention to her in training so I didn't really know if she had any special skills, but I saw the boy throw axes with deadly accuracy. He'll probably get an eight at the least.

Soon enough, the boy had taken his turn and my stomach churned as I saw two Avoxes coming to escort me to the training room, even though I knew perfectly well where it was. Flint caught my harsh intake of breath and said, squeezing my hand for good luck, "Go show them what you're made of, okay?"

I returned the squeeze and let go of his hand as I stood, allowing the Avoxes to each take a place on either side of me as we proceeded down the large, marble-floored hallway. My mother's locket still hung around my neck, never having taken it off since the day Rowan had given it to me, and my fingers wrapped themselves around it, tightening with every step I took that got me closer to the room where the people who could help me fly or watch me fall sat.

Much faster than I would've liked, I was thrust into the center of the room and my heartbeat sped up as I looked at the panel of Gamemakers above me. Seneca Crane sat in a chair placed in the middle of them all and he stood out prominently from the rest, and not just because he seemed to be the only one looking at me at that moment.

He waved his hand, and for a second I thought he was trying to say hello, but then I realized that would be stupid since he could've just said 'hi' in the first place. When I still hadn't moved, confused by his action, he sighed and stated, "You may begin."

Oh. I wanted to slap myself as I made my way over to where the weapons stood, feeling like an idiot for standing there so long. My eyes traveled over knives until I found the one from earlier. The same one Clove had used when she had her own chance to shine. Maybe it would bring me good luck if I used it. Or maybe it would lead to me getting my skull bashed in by a Thresh impersonator.

Whatever the outcome might've been, I picked up the knife anyway, and walked over to a dummy that was placed about forty-feet away from my standing point. It was farther than I was used to, but I wanted to impress them, didn't I? Moving into my stance, I raised the knife, and flicked my wrist just like I did when Cato was in there watching me, sending the knife this time into the person's aorta, another fatal blow.

I turned to face the Gamemakers but to my dismay, I found that not a single one had been watching any of my actions, even Seneca Crane who actually looked at me in the beginning. Did they really think that I was just someone they could look over say that I was nothing special when they didn't even care to watch?

Anger seeping into my bones, I went back over to the weapons and strapped a belt around my waist that contained several knives, and then taking my place back in the center of the room. They wanted entertainment, I'd give it to them.

My fingers latched around the handle of the first knife as I began to pull it from its slot, and I sent it whizzing at one of the many lights on the ceiling, it successfully causing the bulb to shatter and the light to cease. Again and again I did that, glass shards falling to the floor as I went around the room, taking out every light source I saw. Finally, I finished off the ones above the Gamemakers' heads, surprising them as the shattered bulbs rained down upon their perfectly styled hair, and once we were all incased in darkness, I picked out the faint outline of Seneca Crane's figure and threw my final knife into the wood of the chair beside his head.

Oh god. I'd done it now.

Someone turned on a lamp, one that must've been stashed up in their seating area in case of a power outage, and once I saw the look on the Head Gamemaker's face and the knife about a centimeter from his head, I knew I was done for.

"Thank you. You may leave." He said, his voice no as angered as I thought it would've been, but that little observation didn't stop me from dropping the belt at my feet and bolting for the exit. No way did I want to be around them when they said how much they wished they could kill me at that very moment. And I'd gotten them riled up right before Flint's evaluation, so they were more likely to give him a bad score and decrease his chances of winning. Great, Mirabelle, now you made a mess not just for yourself, but for Flint too. Just…fantastic.

Things were just never going to go my way, were they?

**Oh no, looks like Miri's in some deep you-know-what. And how cute was that scene with Cato and Miri in the training room? well, tell me guys what you think and i'm sorry, but i've got an acting camp coming up this week so i might be a little slow on updating, but i will get it in by hopefully next wed! Fingers-crossed!**

**xoxo**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon**


	7. Author's Note

**A/N: okay, i hope you guys aren't going to get mad at me but i had to cut the ball for the president because what with the talents during the interviews and the mentors being switched, i thought it was just too much. and i couldn't find a good place to fit it in. but i promise you all i will give Cato and Mirabelle a cute scene where they dance at some point throughout the story! anyways keep on reading and as always, enjoy!**


	8. Chapter Seven: A Dance on the Rooftop

**AGH! i'm so sorry u guys, that i haven't updated in like over two weeks, but i had a mild case of writer's block and procrastination (a fatal combination DX)! but don't you worry b/c this chapter is super long, actually i think it's the longest chapter i've ever written (15 pages on my word document!) and i hope you guys enjoy b/c it took me literally FOREVER to write. Also, for the songs in this chapter i have to give credit to Taylor Swift, Matt Nathanson, and the movie/broadway musical Annie (don't ask about that last one). Anyways, please read, review and enjoy!**

I ran all the way back to the apartment, not even bothering to take the elevator as I scaled the stairs as fast as I could. God, what had I done? My nausea only increased as I sprinted back to the room, pounding on the door, until someone answered it, the person being Cato and he had a bewildered expression on his face.

"In a hurry much?" He asked, the left side of his mouth quirking upwards in his signature smirk but his gaze softened when he saw how distraught I was, calling as I pushed past him, "Miri, what's wrong?"

I ignored him as I made my way past the living and dining areas, where Cinna and Portia were sitting on the couch, probably debating on what Flint and I should wear for the interviews tomorrow, and I pressed on till I reached my bedroom. Slamming the door behind me, I leaned against the cool wood, my back sliding down against the surface until I sat on the floor.

What. Had. I. Done.

Someone turned the doorknob and pushed the door open slightly, stopping when they realized something was placed against it, and I stood before I could be scooted any farther, glancing up at the person who'd tried to enter. Of all people, it was Effie, and she looked slightly frazzled to notice that I had been sitting on the floor, which was not a lady-like thing to do in her opinion. She just fluffed up her hair though, and came into my bedroom, waltzing over to my bed and sitting down on the blue sheets, daintily patting the spot next to her.

Cautiously, I made my way over to her and sat down also, confused as to why she would be the person to come talk to me when I was upset. If anyone, I thought it would be Cato, seeing as he's tried to do it multiple times since I got here. But Effie…she just wasn't the type of person to talk about her feelings, or anyone else's for that matter, so I was curious as to why she'd come.

"Mirabelle…" She paused and fidgeted for a second, crossing her legs before continuing, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked and she sighed, twisting her hands together. For all I knew, she had nothing to be sorry for, so my confusion only grew and I waited for her to speak her next words.

"Flint…he told me about what your lives are like, back in District 12. He sat me down and said, 'Okay, Effie, I'm going to tell you this because you are one of the last people Miri and I might see before our very possible deaths, and somebody needs to know about the hell we lived in so they can save those kids in still stuck in there.'" She laughed, but it lacked her usual Capitol verve, and finished, "I've never heard about those types of things happening in the districts before. I mean, we don't have anything like that here in the Capitol, obviously, so how would anyone expect me to know?"

She glanced over at me for the first time since she sat down and I saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes as she asked, "Is it true? About the way they killed your parents? And about the way they treat the children in those…orphanages?"

I was taken aback at how much she now knew about the horrible, secretive things that happened in District 12. Flint hadn't told me he'd spoken to Effie about our home life, or about the terrible things that had happened before we had gotten to know each other. In a way, it almost felt like betrayal, but then I remembered that I had also told Cato about those things, so my sudden anger quickly faded away.

"Yes," I said, breaking the silence, and Effie looked down at her hands once again, absorbing the after effects of my answer. Now she was one of the few people who knew what Flint and I had gone through, and she was going to have to deal with the horrors of knowing the truth. But I still wasn't sure what Effie would do with the information, if she would actually do something to help once this whole thing was over or if she would try to forget about it and go back to her ever chipper self.

After another moment of silence, Effie stood and straightened out her dress, even though there wasn't a crease in sight, and began to walk towards the door. When she reached it though, she turned back for a second and said, "Dinner will be in fifteen minutes."

Then she left, her heels clacking down the hallway and I sat dumbfounded, still in my position on the bed. Well, that certainly wasn't something you would see everyday. A capitol person actually caring, or even wondering, what happened outside of their own little bubble. Huh. Letting myself flop backwards onto the mattress, I kicked off my boots and curled up under the bedspread I'd pulled over myself, pulling my hair out of it's braid and allowing it to lie thick against my neck and shoulders. I really needed a nap after everything that had gone down today, and I was determined to get one.

No matter what thoughts plagued my dreams.

* * *

"Hey, Miri. Come on, you've gotta wake up, this is big! Come on!"

I groaned and turned away from the person's voice, my hands moving to pull the sheets over my head, but the person pulled them back before I had the chance, pressing the blanket around my waist as they said, "Miri, you have to see this. Come on, get up, this is history in the making!"

"Ugh, I'm trying to sleep." I mumbled and grabbed a pillow from behind my head, then proceeding to slam it over my ears to block out this person's persistent nagging. Seriously, how much of a hint did they need that I did not want to, or would, wake up? For a few seconds I heard nothing and was about to return to my slumber, but then the pillow was raised and I was lifted into someone's strong arms, the person saying as they carried me from the room, "Miri, I'm not kidding. This really is huge."

I blinked my eyes harshly as we entered the bright lighting of the hallway, and glanced up at the person carrying me. I should've known. Cato. The stubborn twit. Of course he wouldn't have let me slept, not if something about the stupid games was on. Well, I didn't care, and I said, annoyance lacing my voice, "Is this really that important, Cato?"

"You bet." He said, smiling down at me with that smirk of his, and I rolled my eyes as we entered the living room, where Flint, Cinna, Portia, and Effie were all sitting around the TV, talking excitedly about something. Flint was the first one to notice we were in the room, and he smiled widely at me as he stood, coming over to greet me as Cato put me down.

"What's going on?" I asked as Flint wrapped me in a hug, kissing the top of my head and answering, "Just look at the screen, sweetie."

I craned my neck around Flint's frame to get a good look at the TV and when I saw what Caesar and Claudius were talking about, my jaw hit the floor. Like literally, I was so shocked I swear my heart skipped a beat.

I, Mirabelle Reed, had just scored a 12 for my individual evaluation. Me, a little nobody from a lesser district had just scored a 12! No way. There was no way.

"This is a joke, right?" Everybody laughed after I'd said those words, and Cato shook his head, chuckling, "No, it's real." He bent and whispered in my ear, my skin warmed by his breath, "Great job, angel." A kiss on my cheek followed his words and I felt a blush creep onto my face as he pulled away.

"T-thanks…" I stuttered and my fingers traveled up to my cheek to brush across the spot where his lips once were, and I hoped Flint wouldn't be able to notice any of what just happened. Fortunately, everyone was talking so loudly and celebrating my score, so I was pretty sure that he didn't pick up on anything. The one person who did manage to catch the blush on my face, though, was Cinna, but all he did was give me a small smile and went back to discussing something with Portia and Effie. I wondered what he thought of it, if it was wrong for me to even consider having feelings for Cato, but I didn't have much time to ponder because Effie was soon ushering everyone back to bed, saying we should all get some rest before another big, big, big day comes.

Isn't every day a big, big, big day for her?

* * *

Again, Cinna had pulled off a flawless look for me to wear. I seriously had no idea how he was able to come up with something so gorgeous, but then again I'd never seen him design anything ugly. My dress this time was crafted from gray silk, different shades of the fabric creating the illusion of smoke rising and it's hem fell to the middle of my thigh, revealing enough to tease but still keeping it classy. Soft curls framed my face, contributing to the illusion of rising smoke, and my eyelids had been dusted with a silvery shadow, bringing out the flecks of silver in my eyes.

"Cinna, how do you do it?" I asked and he gently laughed, and he came around behind me to clasp my locket around my neck, which was removed when my prep team had prepared me for the interview to come.

"It's just what I put my heart and soul into." He answered, and then stepped away, walking around my figure so that he could fully take in the beauty of his finished creation. I twisted my hands together and looked down at the floor, not knowing if I was worthy enough to even wear these clothes, but Cinna placed his palm under my chin, lifting my face to look him in the eye and said, "Mirabelle, let me just say that I am most honored that you are the one to wear my clothes. The dresses, they wouldn't be as spectacular without someone as admirable as you to wear them."

I didn't know what to say. Me, admirable? Apparently, Cinna already knew what I was thinking and smiled, fixing a wayward curl that had set in an awkward way as he remarked, "And I'm not the only one who thinks you are." Before I could even get a word out, he hushed me and finished, "I've seen the way Cato looks at you. The way his eyes light up when you enter the room."

Glancing up at Cinna, I was about to protest but he silenced me again, saying, "No matter how much you try to deny it, I know what I've seen and I know that our Cato Kingsley does in fact have feelings for you." He smiled at me again, and added, "And don't even try to dismiss the blush on your face last night, after that kiss on your cheek."

"You're not going to tell him, are you?" I asked, and Cinna linked his arm through mine, leading me from the room and down the hallway, heading us towards where the interviews would take place. As we came closer to the place where the tributes had gathered, I noticed Cato and Flint talking to each other, and when the heard the clack of our footsteps on the floor, they both turned and grinned at us. But as I looked at Cato, I realized Cinna was right. His eyes held a softness that I'd only ever seen him look at me with, and he seemed to relax as we came closer to him and Flint. Cinna glanced down at my face to gauge my expression to what I'd just noticed, and whispered in my ear, "I don't think I need to."

Once we came to a stop in front of both of them, Cinna stepped away from me and gave me a once-over to make sure everything was in it's rightful place, then said, "Well, the dress will do it's purpose, now all you have to do is be yourself." He gave me a quick hug and then held me away at a shoulder's length, saying with a final smile, "Don't worry, you'll do great."

I nodded and watched him as he walked away, probably off to sit with all of the other stylists in the crowd to watch the interviews. Flint placed a hand on my shoulder, turning me to him and saying, "He's right, Miri. You're going to be fantastic."

"I'm glad you think so. I'm just worried about what the crowd's going to think." I bit my lip as the crowd roared, the sound echoing through the corridor where all of us tributes stood, but Flint just gave my arm a squeeze and pulled me close, saying, "Miri, you worry too much."

Playfully, I poked him in his side and caused him to chuckle, the sound easing my anxiety. It was nice, having someone around who could make me feel better when everything seemed to become too much to handle. But then, that squeezing in my stomach came once again as I remembered that I wouldn't be able to have him much longer, if I was to die as planned. Looking up at his face, I glanced over what I had memorized, what I had ingrained into my mind so that I would always know him as my Flint, no matter what happened. But my attention was soon swayed when on a large TV placed on the wall in front of all of us, Caesar face was projected on the screen as he began his introduction to the show.

Of course, the crowd absolutely adored Caesar, with all of his charm and wit, and he just seemed to shine on stage, making me all the more nervous about how I would appear to the camera's when put up next to him. Soon, he called the girl District One tribute, Satin Ambrose, to join him, and like all of the girls from her district before her, her angle was to be a, well, 'sexual object'. Or to put it simply, she was dressed like slut. I'd bet her stylist's motto was, 'whatever gets you sponsors.' Her talent was to perform a gymnastic type routine, but overall, she wasn't that impressive.

Azula came out dressed in a skimpy black dress, her blond hair slicked back into a high ponytail, and she smiled coyly to the audience, letting Caesar kiss her hand and lead her to her chair. She smiled graciously at every compliment he gave her and answered all of his questions without fault, giving me the impression that she had practiced many a time to be prepared for this. At one point, Caesar asked, "So, do you have any special young man waiting for you back in District Two?"

"No, Caesar, I don't have anyone waiting back at home for me, but there is a man who I hope to reunite with after the Games are over." Then, she let a blush overcome her cheeks as she glanced down at her lap, playing the part of a lovesick girl perfectly. That little motion of her's caused the crowd to 'aw' and Caesar pushed, "Well, can you tell us who this lucky guy is?"

Azula shook her head but allowed herself to say, "I can give you a clue, but I can't give you his name." She looked at her hands again before adding, "He and I used to have a past together but since he came to the Capitol, I'm afraid he's gotten close to another girl tribute here. I…I'm really afraid I might lose him."

Caesar gave her a pitying look and patted her knee, telling her, "Well, if you win these Games, my dear, there's no way he could pass you by." He patted her knee once more before exclaiming to the entire room, "Why don't we have her perform her talent for us, now shall we?" He motioned for her to stand, and with a tentative grin, she made her way to the front of the stage, and said into a microphone that had been placed there, "I'm going to perform an excerpt from an old play called Romeo and Juliet…and I would like to dedicate it to the man I hope not to let slip through my fingers."

As she began to act out her monologue, I turned to look up at Cato, who stood to my left, and saw him staring at the screen with a surprised expression on his face, as if he didn't know what to think of Azula's public display of utter affection for him. Something in my chest tightened as I glanced back at the screen, watching as Azula ended her excerpt, a tear falling down her cheek that caused the crowd to roar with applause. She obviously knew I had feelings for Cato, but again, she obviously didn't have any respect for them either. But to publicly announce that she wanted to get back together with him hit me where it hurt and I didn't like it one bit.

Thorn made an impression on the crowd, performing a martial arts routine that sent his opponent flying through the air. When he was asked questions, he answered then in the way a typical career would, proclaiming that he knew, not thought, _knew_ that he could win the Games. Too cocky for his own good was what popped into my mind after seeing him flash a smile at the roaring masses.

Districts 3, 4, and 5 didn't amaze me all that much, but the boy from six seemed buff enough to rival some of the careers, and he'd scored a nine for his training score. The girl from 7, Ebony Larch, was the next to wow the crowd, playing a hauntingly beautiful song on an instrument called a violin.

Poppy Briarwood, the girl from 11, appeared shy and quiet when being interviewed by Caesar, but when she began to dance ballet, she came alive, transforming into a graceful creature that twirled around in a dress made of a flowing rose colored material. Her district partner, Helix Yarrow, flew about the stage amidst doing a series of aerial tricks, earning him major cheers from the Capitol citizens. For a boy as intimidating as him, I'd expected him to just punch stuff or something, so what he ended up doing for his talent was a pleasant surprise.

Suddenly, I heard Caesar announcing, "Here she is, the girl who wowed you first during the opening ceremonies, then with her stunning training score… Mirabelle Reed!"

I made my way onto the stage, feeling like I was made of jelly, and as soon as came out fully into the glare of the lights, the citizens went wild. _Smile, Miri, you'll look like a deer in headlights if you don't_, I instructed myself and I grinned as I walked over to Caesar, allowing him to kiss my hand, and then we both sat down in plush chairs, giving the crowd time to settle down before the questions began.

"So, Mirabelle, how did you feel when you saw that you had made history by being the first tribute ever to score a 12 from the Gamemakers?" Caesar asked, and deciding that to be honest was the best route, I answered, "Well, at first I thought that it was joke, like I was being pranked or something."

Caesar laughed, which caused the audience to join him, and said, "It would certainly take a lot of planning to pull off a practical joke like that, wouldn't it?" He chuckled again, and then asked another went on, "Ever since I saw your District's reaping, I've been itching to ask, what exactly is the relationship between you and Flint Mulberry?"

Oh, the question I'd hoped he wouldn't bring up. Giggling a little, I waved off any suspicions and said, "The only relationship we have is one that would be between a brother and sister, nothing more."

Caesar obviously didn't believe that there wasn't any significant other in my life, so he inquired, "Oh, there must be a boy waiting for you to come home, yearning for his Mirabelle!" The audience cheered loudly at that, wanting to know if I had a boyfriend that was overly distraught that I had been chosen to die. I knew that if I just said that there wasn't, I could quickly lose any interest sponsors had decided to give me and for Flint's sake, I couldn't let that happen. So, I decided I'd pull something like Azula did. Two can play at her game.

"There is this one boy," I began to say, causing the crowd to erupt with roars of anticipation, "…but I saw him kissing another girl, during training one day, so…" All of the pain I'd felt that day when I'd found Cato and Azula in that bathroom came rushing back to me, and before I knew it, a tear had fell from my eye, causing Caesar to make a pitying noise and hand me a hanky from the breast pocket on his tuxedo jacket.

"I'm sorry, that must've been hard to watch," He said sympathetically, and I gratefully took the hanky, wiping away the tear that had fallen, taking care not to mess up my makeup. Cato probably knew who I was talking about now, and I wondered what he thought of what I was saying, but thankfully Caesar ended that part of the conversation by exclaiming, "Well, if you are to win these Games, that boy won't be able to stop thinking about you. Now, on a happier note, would you care to perform your talent for all of us?"

Smiling at him, I nodded and stood from the chair, placing the hanky on the armrest as I made my way to the microphone at the front of the stage. But suddenly, all of the people out there staring at me made me feel incredibly nervous, and for a moment, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it through the rest of my interview. Then I thought that I had to do well for Flint, to make sure he made it out alive, so I took a deep breath and said into the microphone, "I'm going to sing a song called Safe and Sound and…. I hope you all enjoy."

The citizens applauded once more and I let out a puff of air before, I began to sing, doing one of the things I'd always loved to do but something not many people knew I could do. But as soon as I opened my mouth and let the notes fly out, I was instantly calmed, relaxing into the words.

"_I remember tears streaming down your face,_

_When I said I'll never let you go,_

_When all those shadows almost killed you light._

_I remember you said, don't leave me here alone, _

'_Cause all that dead has gone and passed tonight._

_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down,_

_You'll be all right, no one can hurt you now,_

_Come morning light, you and I'll be_

_Safe and sound."_

I looked around the room as I was singing, and noticed that every single eye was on me and that everyone was completely silent. Knowing that if I focused on them instead of my song, I would become even more nervous and mess up, so I closed my eyes and let myself see the lyrics play out in my mind.

"_Don't you dare look out your window,_

_Darling, everything's on fire,_

_The war outside our door keeps raging on._

_Hold on to this lullaby, even when the music's gone._

_Gone._

_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down,_

_You'll be all right, no one can hurt you now,_

_Come morning light, you and I'll be _

_Safe and sound."_

I could see the fire, a fire that happened many years ago when the mine explosion happened. I could see the scenes of war that were projected every year at the reaping. I could see the sun setting as I came home from the woods for dinner, the orange-ish pink sunlight creeping through the branches to shine on my face. It was like my own personal movie, the images of my life flashing before my eyes. Is this what always happened before you knew you were going to your death?

"_Just close your eyes._

_You'll be all right._

_Come morning light, you and I'll be, _

_Safe and sound._

_Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo._

_Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo…"_

A thunderous applause met my ears after I finished, and I opened my eyes to see every single person standing on my feet, giving me a standing ovation. I kind of laughed, placing my hand over my mouth as I looked out over all of them, wondering if all their clapping was really for me or if it was just a dream. Caesar came up to stand beside me, saying to the crowd, "Wasn't she spectacular?"

That only caused them to increase the volume of their approval, and I just stood there with a girlish smile on my lips as Caesar said, lifting my hand towards the air, "I'm afraid that's all the time we'll get with this amazing girl. Mirabelle Reed, the hope of District 12!"

Oh, how I hoped I wouldn't let you down, Caesar.

* * *

Later that night, after I'd taken off my heels and slipped into my pajamas, I decided to take a trip to the rooftop, being told before that it was a nice place to go and think. Once I'd stepped out onto it, though, that's when I fully understood why. You could see the Capitol lights for miles, the buildings going on and on without end and it was very spacious, having a few seats here and there to sit on and look out at the city. I took a deep breath in and blew it out through my mouth, the motion refreshing me, since I felt like I hadn't had a real breath of fresh air since I got to the place.

I walked over to the edge of the rooftop and placed my elbows on the concrete rim that kept me from falling over. Well, that and the fact that there was a force-field that would throw any tribute that tried to escape back in before they could yell, 'FREEDOM!' A breeze suddenly blew threw the quiet space, gently making my soft, newly washed hair twist and turn about my head, and I relished the feeling of the wind on my skin. It seemed like I hadn't been outside like this since the day before the reaping, when I'd gone hunting in the woods to see if I could catch a rabbit or two to trade at the Hob. Actually, that was also the day where I saw Gale Hawthorne, a boy who I'd know to be friends with Katniss Everdeen before she died, sitting out by one of the places where I'd seen them go hunting once. He'd been talking to her, saying how much he missed her, how hard it was going to be to feed their families without her to help him. Tears had choked his voice by that point and I had to step away, feeling like I was invading on a personal moment. Thinking back on it, I probably could've dropped one of the rabbits that I'd slain out in the open where he could've easily found it, and I mentally slapped myself for being so selfish.

My thoughts then traveled to the Games, of all the death and blood that was to come and I tried to ignore the nauseous feeling that was easing its way up my throat. I would be dead, my body lying on the ground in some part of the arena, and who knows how mutilated I was going to be. Would my limbs be ripped from me, would I be stabbed through the chest, or would the person be merciful enough to just cut off my head to get it over with? All of the scenarios played out in my head, and I decided that when I went, I'd want my death to be quick, for Flint's sake. What would it be like to die, to leave the world and everything that I knew? Would it be like falling asleep, or would it be a pain-filled journey that would lead me into the dark, never to wake again? In Heaven, would I see my parents again, see them smiling down at me like they used to do when I was little? A song that I'd heard some people hum in the orphanage floated into my thoughts and I started to hum its tune, the words eventually following.

"_Maybe far away, or maybe real nearby,_

_He may be pouring her coffee, _

_She may be straightening his tie. _

_Maybe in a house, all hidden by a hill, _

_She's sittin' playing piano, _

_He's sittin' paying a bill._

_Betcha they're young, betcha they're smart,_

_Bet they collect things like ashtrays and art._

_Betcha they're good, why shouldn't they be?_

_They're one mistake, was giving up me._

_So maybe now it's time, and maybe when I wake,_

_They'll be there calling me 'baby,'_

_Maybe…"_

"Pretty song." I whipped myself around once I heard the voice, and I saw Cato standing by the entrance to the roof, his hands stuffed inside the pockets of his dress pants. He hadn't bothered to change his clothes yet, still in his formal attire, except for trading his white button-down shirt for a cotton t-shirt of the same color. His hair looked blonder than usual, creating a slight contrast against the tan of his skin, and his bright-blue eyes had deepened to a navy, sucking me in. He padded over barefoot to where I was standing, his eyes never slipping away from mine as he made his way next to me, saying, "But definitely not as pretty as that voice of yours."

I shrugged a bit at his comment and murmured as I turned back to face the city, "I wouldn't say my voice is that pretty…"

He took a moment before responding, "I guess you're right," But as soon as I glanced over at him in confusion, he added, without one ounce of sarcasm, "It can't hold a candle to how beautiful you are."

That familiar blush plagued my cheeks again and to avoid letting him see, I looked out at the Capitol, allowing my hair to cover my face a bit as I did. Had he really meant it, that I was beautiful? Of course he did, dummy, or else he wouldn't have said it! But then, there was also the Azula situation to deal with… and I didn't even know where to begin with that. Oh, why couldn't relationships be simple?

"Was it… was it me you were talking about? The guy who kissed the other girl during training?" He asked, and I felt that stabbing pain in my heart again, the one I felt whenever I thought about Cato and her together in that bathroom. What should I say, that it was him and I hated him for letting her convince him that they should kiss, or say that it was just a story I came up with in my spare time? Well, I guess if I started out being honest…

"Yeah, it was you." My voice came out soft in the evening air, and for a moment all we heard was the other breathing while we both thought over what I had just said. I had basically just admitted point blank that I had feelings for him, serious feelings that I'd never felt for any other boy. How I would've given anything to know what he was thinking right then, to know if he felt the same way I did. But before my train of thought could ramble on, he stated, "I don't have any feelings left for Azula. She… she was a mistake I made when I was an immature kid and if I could go back and erase our relationship, I would."

"Then why did you kiss her?" I could feel the threat of tears behind my bottom eyelid as I thought back on that scene, but I forced them away as I blocked it from my mind, refusing to let it upset me again. Cato sighed and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him run a hand through his hair, something I learned he did when he was agitated about an issue, saying, "I… I don't know, but it's one of those things I regret in every fiber of my being."

I guess I'd have to take his word for it, seeing as I was the only witness to the kiss, and for the next few minutes, we stared out at the city in silence. It was hard, having him that close to me, but I couldn't reach out and touch him, to make sure he was actually there.

"Do you like to dance, Mirabelle?" Cato asked, tilting his head towards me and I turned my gaze away from the city to look at him, shrugging. The only times I'd ever gotten to dance in a formal setting were at school events and even then, they didn't allow me to gain much experience. I'd never given it much thought, if I would like it if I ever got an actual chance to partner-dance with someone.

"Why do you ask?" I queried, but all Cato did was gently grab my hand in his and pull me to the center of the rooftop. Surprised I didn't resist him and fought the urge to blush as Cato placed one of his hands in the small of my back, using that as an advantage to get my body closer to his. I could almost feel the smirk in his voice as he bent to whisper in my ear, "No reason."

Okay, he was mocking me, taking revenge for all of those times he'd asked me questions and I respond with a non-descript answer. But I didn't think it was fair. I mean, I had a real explanation as to why I couldn't answer the inquires, but Cato was just taunting me, tickling the obvious right under my nose as he did.

"How can we dance if there's no music?" I countered, becoming flustered at how close we were together, and Cato just simply stated, "Got it covered."

He began to move our bodies in a swaying motion, keeping his mouth on my ear, causing my heart rate to speed up by a large margin of beats. I didn't understand hoe he had the music covered, but I soon caught on as he started softly singing to me, his voice more beautiful than I expected it to be.

_"I miss the sound of your voice__  
__And I miss the rush of your skin__  
__And I miss the still of the silence__  
__As you breathe out and I breathe in_

_If I could walk on water__  
__If I could tell you what's next__  
__I'd make you believe__  
__I'd make you forget_

_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips__  
__Faith and desire and the swing of your hips__  
__Just pull me down hard__  
__And drown me in love__  
_

_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips__  
__Faith and desire and the swing of your hips__  
__Just pull me down hard__  
__And drown me in love."_

As we danced, I found myself falling under the trance of Cato's song, being dragged deeper with each word he sang. My hands snaked up his body to rest on the back of his neck, and by that point, Cato had moved his to my hips. I knew we were entering dangerous territory for a girl and her mentor, but at that point, I didn't care.

_"I miss the sound of your voice__  
__Loudest thing in my head__  
__And I ache to remember__  
__All the violent, sweet__  
__Perfect words that you said_

_If I could walk on water__  
__If I could tell you what's next__  
__I'd make you believe__  
__I'd make you forget."__  
_  
After a few verses, I became familiar with the tune and began to hum along with him, placing my head against his chest. His lips formed a smile against my ear and his breath caused a pattern of goosebumps to align on my skin, causing me to shiver. Wait, I shouldn't be feeling this way about him, I mean, he did kiss Azula and then not tell me that he had a relationship with her even after she'd tried to kill me. But the way he was singing and the way that I just felt like I could melt in his arms made me fall completely head over heels for him.

_"I miss the pull of your heart__  
__I taste the sparks on your tongue__  
__I see angels and devils__  
__And God, when you come on__  
__Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on_

_Sing sha la la la__  
__Sing sha la la la la_

_Ooo Ooo Ooo...__  
_

_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips__  
__Faith and desire and the swing of your hips__  
__Just pull me down hard__  
__And drown me in love__  
_

_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips__  
__Faith and desire and the swing of your hips__  
__Just pull me down hard__  
__And drown me, drown me in love_

_It's all wrong, it's all wrong__  
__It's all wrong, it's so right__  
__So come on, get higher__  
__So come on and get higher__  
_

_'__Cause everything works, love  
__Everything works in your arms."_

He whispered the last verse of the and we just stood there, pressed against each other, our breathing being the only sound heard now that cut through the quiet. Suddenly, and I didn't know if either of us knew it was going to happen, Cato's hands had slid up my figure and cradled my face in his hands, holding my face still as he brought his lips down to mine. Once our mouths met, I gasped under the kiss at the fire I felt burst beneath my skin, and my fingers grasped some strands of his hair, pushing his face closer to mine. Cato seemed a bit surprised at my sudden aggressiveness, but welcomed it as he walked us backwards, finally leading us to a wall and placing my back up against it as he kissed me more fiercely. The way it all was making me feel was terrifying me, but at the same time I wanted to lose control, wanted him to kiss me until my thoughts were completely consumed by him and only him...

"Miri, what are you doing up here?"

**Duh duh duh! they've been caught, but by who? (i bet u guys can guess :D) anyways, i hoped you guys liked the chapter and don't be afraid to PM me if there's anything you need me to clear up. **

**xoxo**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon **


	9. Chapter Eight: The Surprise of the Games

_****_**Hey! This chapter is one of my shorter ones (sorry D:) but i hope you guys still enjoy it. The quote at the beginning is from the hit tv series Bones which is one of my like favorite tv shows EVER, and i love this quote so i decided to put it in :) so, as always read, review and enjoy!**

**A/N: I do not own the hunger games or the quote at the beginning.**

* * *

_**Angela:** Childhood should be all about swings. _

_**Hodgins:** Swings? _

_**Angela:** You know how high can I go, if I twist the chains how fast will I spin. _

_**Hodgins:** Or if I try and jump off before the swing stops. _

_**Angela:** Exactly. _

_**Hodgins:** I miss that feeling. _

_**Angela:** Yeah me too._

* * *

Shit.

That was the first word that popped into my head after I heard that person's voice and I reluctantly pulled myself from the kiss, Cato's face still lingering inches from mine as I turned my head to see the person I most feared to be there standing a few feet from us. Flint was looking in our direction, a confused and bewildered expression on his face, and my stomach dropped as I scrambled to think of a logical explanation as to why I was on the rooftop.

"Um, I needed to get some air, you know, clear my head." I said, my heart pounding in my chest, and Flint nodded warily, just barely accepting my answer. Glancing up at Cato to see what his reaction was, I saw him still staring at me, that gentle look in his eyes and his thumb rubbed my cheek tenderly, as if still lost in the moment of our kiss. He seemed so lost in fact that he didn't even realize Flint was there until I jerked my head to the side sharply, causing him to blink several times and turn his gaze over to him, stepping away from me and struggling to explain, "Well, I came up here to, uh, say goodnight, so…"

"Would it be too much trouble to ask if I could have a moment alone with Miri? I wanted to talk with her before we go into the arena tomorrow." Flint raised an eyebrow in Cato's direction and Cato, still in a flustered state, nodded and sent me a look as he left, his eyes lingering on me as he excused himself to go to bed. I turned my gaze on Flint as he came closer to me, placing his hand under my face so that his palm cupped my chin, and asked, "Did he try anything with you?"

Wanting to leave all of the drama for the arena, I shook my head and was able to feel a bit of relief as he accepted my answer, placing his arm around my shoulders as he led us to the edge of the roof. He sighed, letting his eyes float out over the Capitol even though he couldn't see any of it, and murmured, "It must be nice to live here, never having to worry about going to your death, being free to live out your childhood."

I nodded, looking out at the flickering city lights as I thought about what he said. Childhood. Did the word even exist for us anymore? Thinking back, my years of youth were filled with death, hunger, and abuse, things I thought that children shouldn't experience at the age I did. All of those times I was thrown in a closet for being five minutes late for dinner, sitting alone in the dingy room for hours on end until I was allowed out to run into Flint's comforting arms. How I was driven to the life of a hunter to get the things Flint and I needed to survive that the community home wouldn't provide for us, risking certain punishment by catching what game I did and then trading it in a place that wasn't suitable for a girl like me to enter.

Flint's childhood was just as grim as mine, forced to learn how to do things with the impatient help of our community home's head of staff, Ingrid. She was a large, bossy woman who liked to dole out punishments to the kids who got in her way. Ingrid was especially cruel to Flint, making him stay at the home to help clean the place while everyone else went to school, telling him he was too stupid to learn anything because of his blindness, that it was his fault that he was born that way. I knew it made him feel horrible, but he always tried to hide his sadness, for me.

"Miri? Are you gonna be okay? You know, for what's happening tomorrow?" I snapped myself out of my thoughts and turned to glance up at him, his face still towards the city, his jaw muscle taut as he stared out into a darkness that would never leave. I wasn't prepared for that question. I mean, how could I be okay with it? The Capitol was basically sending me off to be slaughtered and who knows what would happen at the bloodbath? Azula might slit might throat before I can blink, or Thorn could stab a spear through my stomach ten seconds in. Just thinking of dying made my stomach churn, but the thought of Flint dead made me feel like screaming from the horror of the idea. No, he couldn't die, he wouldn't.

"I don't know." I answered and he turned his head towards my voice, sighing as he brushed a lock of hair behind my ear. He smiled sadly at me and his fingers traveled to my locket, holding the small silver heart gently in his palm. His eyebrows rose as he let the metal sit on his skin and I realized I hadn't told him about the necklace yet. Saving him from asking any questions, I explained, "It was my mother's. Someone from the Hob came to return it to me after the reaping."

"I'll bet she's smiling, wherever she is, now that you're wearing it." He let the necklace drop back to lie against my T-shirt, and closed his eyes as he faced the city again. I wondered what he was thinking, if he was scared about tomorrow or if he thought he was going to die as soon as the gong sounded. I just hoped it wasn't something that wouldn't distract him from saving his life when the Games began.

"You deserve better than this, Mirabelle." I looked up at him in surprise as he spoke the words, pondering what he meant. Yeah, I don't think anyone deserved to go through the hell we were about to experience or live in a community home, but I never thought I did anything worthy of deserving something. I took my life as it was and lived with it, knowing there wasn't much I could change. Flint closed his eyes, scrunching up his features and went on, his voice strained, "You deserve to live your life to the fullest, not to die in some horrible way for the sake of people being entertained. You're too young, too full of youth to leave the world. It's… it's just not fair."

"What about you? You deserve better than this too. For taking care of me all those years, for being the closest thing I have to family, for just being there." The warning signs that tears were going to make an appearance began to pop up on my radar and I brushed away one that managed to slip down my cheek. Flint turned to face me fully and placed his hand under my chin again, lifting my face up so that I could see his.

"Miri, I've lived almost four years longer than you. I've seen enough of the terrible things that happen in this world and I don't-"

"No, you're not going to die!" I yelled, more tears slipping down my face and Flint pulled me to him, stroking my hair as he tried to reason with me but I shrieked into his chest, "I'm not letting you go away forever! Not without me!"

"Shh, no more talk of dying. It'll only make you feel worse. Shh, sweetie, you're okay, you're okay…" He hugged me tight as I sobbed into him, ruining his shirt with my snot and tears. It all was just… it was all just becoming too much for me to handle, and I guess I chose this moment to snap. It was just unlucky for me that I'd snapped right before we had to go into the arena. Oh god, I did not want to turn into Annie Cresta, a victor who'd gone insane after she'd seen her district partner be killed, before the Games even started. That would cause me lose me any sponsors that I had even managed to gain the slightest notice of.

I eventually ended the water works, sniffling for a little bit before succumbing to yawns, and Flint picked me up in his arms, whispering to me that I should get some sleep as he made his way to the elevator that had brought us up here. Nodding, I relaxed as the elevator took us down to our floor and sleep took over somewhere between the elevator doors and the dining room, because the next thing I remember is dreaming. Dreaming about living somewhere happy, where nothing would ever hurt me or anyone I loved. It was almost so real that I actually began to believe I was there, remaining there for the rest of my life, but everyone knows the harsh reality of dreams.

You always wake up. No matter how hard you try.

* * *

The next morning, I woke with a sour feeling in my stomach, and I curled into a ball under my sheets. How I wished that I'd never have to face this day. Hugging my knees to my chest, I struggled not to think about going into the arena, about what the Gamemakers had designed it to look like. Would it be a forest like last year, or would it be a frozen tundra? Or maybe they'd throw us in a desert so there'd be no place for anyone to hide, and the audience would just have to wait to see which tributes out-ran the others. Maybe they would only place one canteen of water and force us to battle for it, or make it so that the water was so hard to find, tributes would be falling dead all over the place. On the other hand, it could be an ocean and we'd have to swim the whole time or slowly drown. I shuddered at that. Drowning didn't seem like the best option for my death… but I guess it beats being mutilated.

In an attempt to rid the thoughts from my head, I stood from the bed with a yawn and walked over to my dresser, where an outfit had been placed sometime while I was asleep. A navy t-shirt, a jacket with a slick outer covering, probably in the event that it would rain, sturdy tan pants, and black hunting boots. I tugged on the shirt and tucked the hem into the pants after I'd pulled them up, securing it with a belt I was given. The jacket was placed over that, zipped up halfway, and the hunting boots were drawn over the ends of my pants. I tied the laces tightly, making sure that they wouldn't come loose and trip me as I was running out there, and made my way out into the hallway, walking down to the dining room where I could see everyone was already assembled. I mused that they probably let me sleep in, not wanting to rush me into this day, and I silently let them know my appreciation.

"Good morning," I said as I took my spot at the table, and Flint was the first to look up from his meal and smile at me, saying, "Good morning to you too, buttercup." He kissed my forehead and added, "Enjoy breakfast, okay?"

I nodded and plopped a blueberry from my plate into my mouth, forcing any nausea back to my stomach and telling myself that I'd better eat something because I wasn't going to be served a first-class meal when I was in the arena. Effie was the next to speak, saying that she thought we both did a wonderful job on our interviews last night and asked Cato if he thought the same. He was moving his food around with his fork nonchalantly and mumbled his agreement with her, and he glanced up at me for the briefest moment, his gaze still in that gentle state. As soon as those baby-blues met mine, all of the heat from our kiss last night rushed back into me and my cheeks flushed from the memory, and my eyes darted from his to my plate. Just from that little moment of interaction, my heartbeat had sped up and was now pounding in my chest, all from the remembrance of how it'd felt to be near him like that, to have him make me feel like I was finally someone special and not a little nobody.

I finished the rest of my breakfast in silence after that, and strangely, Cato didn't make an effort to be part of conversation either. He stared down at his food just like I did and every once in a while would take a bite, but he didn't really seem like he cared to eat anything. I didn't understand the reason for his melancholy, since he wasn't the one going into the arena, but then again, you never knew with Cato.

"Alright, I think it's time to get you two to the loading rooms." Cinna announced after a glance at the clock, and Flint and I reluctantly stood from our chairs, my stomach churning as he and Portia led us to the door. Effie gave us each a hug before we left but Cato didn't even bother to move from his spot, not even glancing over at us as we left. My heart felt a little stab of pain at that. He couldn't even be man enough to say goodbye to me, even after that kiss we shared? Did I repulse him that much, so much that he couldn't even bring himself to give me any last words of advice before I went to my death? Fine, if he wanted to be that way, I wouldn't care. I'd force myself to forget all about him and that kiss. Oh…but how could I forget?

Cinna and Portia led us into the elevator and we proceeded to ride downwards until we reached the ground floor, where we would be taken separately to the hovercrafts that would travel us to where the arena was. Flint hugged me one last time, whispering in my ear, "Don't worry about me out there. Just make sure that you don't let anyone get a piece at you, okay?"

"I won't." I murmured back to him and he released me, pinching my cheek tenderly before letting Portia guide him down the hallway. I watched him leave, seeing his broad form disappear as he and Portia rounded a corner and I felt a hollow feeling in my stomach as that happened. Cinna tucked his arm in mine as he escorted me in the opposite direction, and I tried to ignore the hollow feeling as we made our way through a door that led us outside, a platform that held the hovercraft sixty feet away from us.

"I'll see you in the when you get to the loading room." He said, gave my arm a squeeze as he let me go, nudging me gently towards the aircraft and I turned back to give him a smile before I walked up to the thing, an attendant following me and helping me get situated in a chair that was one of six placed along the wall of the craft. To my discomfort, I realized the hulking tribute sitting next to me was Thorn and he turned his head slightly so offer me a condescending smirk.

"You ready to die, little bird?" He asked, relaxing into the chair while I tensed my body. I hated the way he could make me squirm with fear, like he had the power to completely terrorize me at his will. A chuckle sounded at my uneasiness, and he lifted a hand to my cheek, slowly dragging his finger down the cut he'd made just days ago, causing me to freeze in my seat.

"Such a pretty face," His voice had suddenly gotten very close and I gathered that'd he'd moved his lips to my ear, grazing the thin skin as he spoke. "You know, a small part of me will be sad to see it go to waste. But I guess I could always make you mine before I have to tear you apart…" He snapped his teeth at my earlobe and let out another chuckle at my intake of breath, taking joy in the fact that he was making me uncomfortable. His touch still lingered on my face and I summoned the nerve to slap his hand away, but he managed to catch mine in his, a sadistic smile on his face as he kissed the tip of my index finger. "Don't worry, little bird, I'll be sure to give you a real one before I slit your skin." He said, and I tore my hand away from him, causing him to laugh once more as he leaned back against the padding of his seat, obviously satisfied with my reaction.

The girl from 4 was glaring at me from across the space, and I remembered faintly that she liked to play with swords, having seen her use them multiple times during training. Lovely. Another person who was out to kill me.

Another attendant was coming around to all of us tributes with a needled like object in his hand, and when he plunged the needle into Thorn's arm, the boy next to me didn't even wince. The attendant grabbed my arm before I could process what was happening and I hissed at the sting of the object being inserted into me.

"A tracker," he explained, and I winced at he extracted the long metal stem, moving on quickly to the District six boy at my other side. Strangely, the device didn't leave a single mark on my skin and I marveled at that until I felt the craft begin to rise from the ground. I gripped the edges of my seat as we flew, not enjoying the feeling of being high off the ground, but the ride only lasted a few minutes. Then, we were each herded down different hallways by a Peacekeeper, the person trailing us until we reached our loading rooms, pressing a button on the wall that moved the door out of the way so we could enter.

I noticed Cinna standing by the glass tube that would be used to transport me into the arena, but he turned around when he heard me come in, pulling me into a hug. Then he held me out by my shoulders, looking me over and saying, "Let's braid this hair of yours." He proceeded to plait my brown locks down my back and fastened the end with a pale pink ribbon that he'd produced from the breast pocket of his shirt.

"Good luck, Mirabelle. I know whatever happens, you'll be the real victor of these Games." He fixed a strand of hair that had fallen out of place and then grinned at me, that smile telling me that at least someone had faith in me but my attention swerved as someone came barging into the room, out of breath.

"Cato?" I asked and he began to walk over to me, causing Cinna to step out of the way. Cinna gave me a knowing look, and excused himself, smiling at me a final time before he left the space. As he left, I glanced up at Cato and he came barreling at me, pressing his forehead against mine and cradling my face in his hands. His action took me completely off guard and I stumbled a little bit, but regained my balance before I fell and made a fool out of myself.

"Please try to come back, Miri. Please." He begged, his voice broken, and I was taken aback at how much grief and longing was in his tone. He'd barely spoken to me at breakfast, but now he was pleading for me to stay alive for him? I placed my hands against his chest and underneath my palms I could feel his racing heartbeat, telling me that he seemed to be pretty freaked out at the moment.

"Cato, you know that I can't…" I started to say but he cut me off, beseeching me, "No, I can't lose you! I need you to come back to me or I… I'll go mad!" His tone was reaching a desperate level and it was physically hurting me to see him grovel like that. I was about to open my mouth and tell him how sorry I was, so sorry but before I could get the words out, a voice boomed throughout the room, proclaiming, "Thirty seconds till launch."

"I have to go Cato… You'll…you'll be okay without me." I pushed myself up on my toes to kiss his cheek and forced myself to walk away, into the glass tube with the door sealing shut behind me. No matter how much I tried not to, I let myself glance back at him to see him staring at me heartbroken, his eyes holding a sadness so deep I couldn't describe. In a last minute attempt at a goodbye, I lifted three fingers to my lips and held them out to him.

"What does that mean?" He asked, though his voice was muffled.

"It means goodbye to someone you love." I said and then turned away from him to prepare myself for my unavoidable death. But somewhere inside me, a bit of me was gone, given to Cato for him to have until the day he died. A piece of my heart, one that I knew he'd stolen from that night he'd kissed my hand after the chariot rides. I hoped he'd treat it well, even after I was gone, but I also didn't want it to hold him back from finding someone who could be with him forever, someone who could make him happy.

I was startled as the plate at my feet began to move me upwards, and my head tilted upwards to make sure I would be able to catch a glimpse of my surroundings as soon as possible. After about five seconds, my head out of the tube and after about fifteen, my whole body was released from the confined space.

Mountains. We were surrounded by mountains. And snow. Lots of snow. I shivered as a blast of icy wind bit at my face and jumped as Claudius's voice echoed around us, giving us instructions for how this year's games was going to play out.

"Welcome to the Himalayan Mountains. This location was one of the largest mountain ranges in the world circa the twenty-first century and it is only one setting for this year's games." At first, I think all of us tributes were confused by what he was saying, but thankfully he went on, giving us more time to process what was going on and survey the area around us.

"There will be a series of checkpoints, portals if you will, that will take you to the next stage of the arena. But let me warn you, it will not be easy to find these checkpoints farther into the Games. And… no more than three tributes can enter through a single checkpoint, so keep that in mind! Well, Happy Hunger Games and May the odds be ever in your favor." Claudius signed off there, leaving us with the cold air blowing up snow around us. What did he mean by checkpoints? Would a door just pop up out of nowhere or something? Okay, there was no time to worry about that now, considering the sixty-second countdown was beginning and I hadn't even gathered where Flint was or glanced around to see what supplies was placed near me. A small blue backpack sat about ten feet from my plate, stuffed full with something that hopefully was useful. I decided I'd make a run for that and then call out for Flint, being thankful to the Gamemakers that he was only placed two spaces down from me.

30.

God, my stomach was starting to turn inside out from all the anxiety of the moment. I glanced up to which tribute was across from me, and I saw Thorn, smirking once again and he winked at me, causing the pain in my stomach to increase. What would the cameras make of that interaction between us? Oh god what would they think if he actually carried out the "promise" to make me his before he killed me…

10.

I began to tense my body, bracing myself to run to grab the bag, try to find Flint, and then make a beeline for a checkpoint, wherever one was. Maybe if I found one quickly enough, I'd help us both get through the first night, possibly the second too.

3.

I glanced at the backpack, imaging it already in my grasp.

2.

I glanced at Flint, who also stood at the ready for the gong to sound, his muscles taut.

1.

I let myself look up at Thorn and as if in a final dare, I mouthed to him, _Come and catch me._

Then, the gong sounded.

**And so the games begin! May the odds be ever in there favor! (i felt like effie right there XD) Anyways, when i wrote the part with Thorn, i was thinking about how Cato was like during his games so that's where the inspiration for that came from. But don't worry, he's not gonna try anything, because CATOBELLE IS FTW! Anyways, please review, reviews always make me happy :), and i'll try to get in another chapter before school starts!**

**xoxo**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon **


	10. Chapter Nine: A Stakeout in the Snow

**Hey peoples! Im so so so sorry, but this is one of my shorter chapters, but i hope you guys enjoy nonetheless! And today is my first day of sophomore year! AHHHHHHHH! SO EXCITED! And my birthday is coming up next week so it would be an awesome birthday present if you guys could give me reviews! Anyways, as always, read, review and enjoy!**

I pushed myself as hard as I could off that plate as soon as the gong sounded, running with my eyes locked on the backpack and my feet kicking up snow behind me, creating a frozen cloud. Grabbing one of the bag's straps, I moved to throw it over my shoulder, but something tugged it in the opposite direction and I whipped around to see the girl from 5, Maple I think was her name, taking hold of the pack as well. She must've spotted it too and thought it was an easy grab, but I wasn't about to surrender it. I ripped the other strap from her grasp with one swift pull and ran away from her, not wanting to get mixed up in the bloodbath and screw up my plan to get Flint and I out of there.

Frantically, I looked around the masses of battling tributes and screamed, "Flint!"

But even as I called a second time, I couldn't find him, my eyes flickering across the white landscape as I began to panic. He…he couldn't have just disappeared, I mean there were no places to hide behind at his point, except the Cornucopia, but I doubted many had made it that far. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Thorn, with a spear already in hand, pull it from the District 8 boy's neck, and the poor boy fell to the ground, dead within only the first few minutes. The sight of his blood soaking into the snow was enough to make me run away, my heart pounding as I glanced around for Flint as I whizzed past dead tributes lying on the ground. Where was he?

Suddenly, I bumped into something and fell backwards, letting out a small shriek of surprise as I went into the snow. Glancing up in fear, I saw the District 11 boy, Helix, staring down at me, an axe in his grip. I wasn't sure what he was thinking as we both looked at each other, but when he held out his hand to me, I was truly shocked. A little warily, I took his hand and he used it to help me to my feet, not saying a word as we just stood there for a few seconds, but a scream soon echoed behind us and I turned to see the boy from 9 battling his district partner, a knife being plunged into her side. Helix sprung past me, leaping into the fight to save her, and I took that as my opportunity to make my way from the area.

Flint was still nowhere to be seen and my panic grew with every passing second. Oh god, what if he'd died already and I didn't get to say goodbye… no, that couldn't happen, it wouldn't. I made my way farther from the fight, still checking to see if I could find him, and I pushed myself to run as fast as I could, my lungs begging for a deep breath of air, but I didn't stop. No way was I sticking around that place. If I stayed there, I'd practically be offering myself up on a silver platter to the careers, and I did not want to be killed by Thorn sooner than I had to.

About half-an-hour in, I was still running, nearly crying from how much my body was pleading me to rest, and, slowing down under an nondescript snowdrift, I flopped down onto the ground and took a few minutes to get air into my lungs. My face, by that point, was numb from the icy wind that had blown straight at me the whole time, my legs and feet were like jelly, and overall, I just really wanted to sleep in the nice warm bed I had back in the Capitol. Setting my bag in my lap, my fingers fumbled with the zipper until I managed to open it, looking inside at its contents to see if there was anything useful. The first thing I laid eyes on was a canteen of water, and as I picked it up in my hand, I could tell it was full. Eagerly, I twisted off the cap and went to take a sip, wanting the fresh taste to quench my thirst, but when no water fell into my mouth, I looked inside the canteen in confusion. The water was frozen.

In frustration, I hurled the container a few feet away from me, and cursed the Gamemakers under my breath. They thought they were so clever, giving me frozen water. Ugh, and I wouldn't even be able to take as sip until the water thawed, which would only happen if I could get out of this section of the arena. Trying to suppress a groan of annoyance, I continued going through my bag, pulling out a blanket, a pack of bandages, a small tube of some type of antibacterial cream, and a tiny package of crackers. I tried looking for something more, thinking maybe there was a compartment with something else hidden in it, but when I found nothing, I sighed and set the pack aside. Really? They couldn't even give me a weapon to defend myself with? Well, what could I expect from some stupid Capitol monkeys anyway?

Shoving everything back into the bag, I laid back against the snowdrift, and closed my eyes, allowing myself a few moments of rest. I don't think I'd ever run that far or that fast in my entire life, and at that moment I felt like passing out. I wondered if Flint had made it out of that killing frenzy, if he was struggling to keep warm somewhere out there. Or what if he was lying in the snow with a blade in his back… No, I couldn't let myself resort to thinking like that. He had to be alive, or else I had no reason to even make it as far as I had.

A cold blast of wind blew under the snowdrift, and I shivered from the iciness of it. It seemed like the Gamemakers had lowered the temperature at least twenty degrees from what it first was and my trembling body was not appreciating it. Digging back into my pack, I pulled out the blanket and covered myself with it, relishing as some warmth was passed back into me.

Before I knew it, I was asleep, farther off into dreamland than I should've been, curled up underneath that snowdrift with the pack tucked under my head as a pillow. Cato roamed in my thoughts, his heart-breakingly handsome face smiling at me and calling me 'angel'. Never really noticing till that moment, I'd always felt a tingle when he'd called me that, loving the way his voice sounded as he teased me. I missed him, everything about him, even that cocky smirk he wore when he wanted to annoy me. It made me want to sob, knowing that the moment before I went into the tube was the last time I would see him. That I would never be able to share another kiss with him and never feel that heat when I got close to him ever again. I was imagining reaching out and brushing my fingers against his cheek when the Capitol anthem woke me from my sleep.

Sitting up and rubbing my eyes, I glanced up with blurry vision at the night sky, where the seal of the Capitol was projected against the starless backdrop. I guessed I must've been asleep for a few hours, which was longer than I had planned since I hadn't arranged for myself to take a nap this soon into the games, and I was lucky that some tribute hadn't come along and killed me while I slept. Up in the sky the tributes that had fallen at the bloodbath and the ones killed soon after had their faces projected in the sky. I gathered that I'd slept through the firing of the cannons too because I don't remember hearing any before I drifted off.

In my head, I kept track of the dead tributes: both from 3, both from 5, the girl from 6, the boy from 7, both from 8, both from 9 and both from 10. 12 of us dead, 12 of us left. I guess that girl I'd fought for the backpack probably ended up being slaughtered by the careers, and suddenly, I felt guilty for not giving her the backpack. But then, the guilt faded away as I realized that Flint was alive. That he had made it through the fight and really was out there somewhere, not just me hoping that he was. I wanted to cry out in joy but I realized it was dead silent except for the slight whistling of the wind, and if I spoke, I would give away my position to anyone within a five-mile radius.

The temperature felt like it had gotten even colder while I'd slept and I began to shiver as I pulled the blanket closer to me, trying to get some warmth into my quivering limbs. Were the Gamemakers going to freeze us to death? I mean, I hadn't seen firewood anywhere, but who knows, maybe there was some in the cornucopia that the careers had gotten their hands on. After several attempts to fall back asleep, I decided that I wasn't going to get any more rest and stood, stuffing the blanket and canteen back into the bag and throwing it over my shoulder. If I wanted to stay warm, I'd have to get my blood flowing, so I began to walk around and survey the area for checkpoints and other tributes.

For half-a-mile, I didn't catch a glimpse of anyone who'd come this way, if any had run in this direction at all. I guess it was a good thing, meaning a less chance of being killed, but it still made me nauseous about how far away from Flint I was. I'd never been in a place where he wasn't close to me, making sure I was safe and not getting into trouble, but now, it was like there was a barrier between us, like I could physically feel that there was miles and miles separating us from one another.

I walked another half a mile, my body heat rising a bit as I moved, and about fifty-feet in front of me there was a large snow drift, much bigger than the one I'd slept under and the glow of a fire was projected from it's other side, flickering against the snow. Even from my distance, I could hear voices from over there also, because of how quiet the night was, and a hunch told me that was where the careers had set up camp. Usually they stayed around the cornucopia, dominating that area and all of the supplies, but maybe all that blood in the snow had caused them to change sites. I probably would've too at the sight of the frightening contrast of red against white, knowing that it meant people who had been so very alive just a few days ago were now erased from the earth. Gone, like they never existed, their only remains being the blood that was spilled as a weapon tore through them. Ugh, how could the careers stand living with themselves, after killing so many people? How could anyone live with themselves after taking a person's life?

Trying to quiet the crunching of snow under my boots, I cautiously made my way to the top of the snowdrift, crawling up the slope as lithely as I could. My bare hands were stinging against the coldness in the air and I struggled not to let my teeth chatter as I peered over the edge. As I suspected, the careers were crowded around a fire, doing various things to keep themselves entertained. A pile of supplies and weapons was stationed a couple yards to the right of their fire, and it looked like they'd stuffed most of what they could into backpacks, suggesting they were planning on traveling a lot, rather than staying in one place. It wasn't the usual style of the careers but considering this was the Quarter Quell, I guess everyone had to alter their strategies to fit the tricks of the arena.

"So what do we do know? Just sit and wait?" Azula asked, stabbing a knife into a piece of firewood and glaring over at Thorn, who was busy making out with the girl from 4, Coral, closer to the pile of supplies. Glancing up in annoyance at his district partner, Thorn gave her a sarcastic look and said, "Maybe a tribute will hear the sound of your whiny ass and come running to kill you, saving me from doing it."

Coral giggled at Thorn's response and that outburst caused Azula to dislodge her knife from the wood and chuck it at the girl's head, barely missing her face by millimeters.

"And I can save us all the trouble of having your little girlfriend around, and forcing us all to watch you guys suck face when we could be out there getting this show on the road." She growled and turned back to the firewood, kicking it away from her and scowling into the flames before her. Thorn just rolled his eyes and stood from his spot, walking over next to her and twirling the end of her ponytail around his finger, teasing her. He really was a jackass, playing around with every girl he saw. I shuddered as I remembered the words he'd said to me on the hovercraft that had flown us here.

_But I guess I could always make you mine before I kill you…_

"Cut the crap, Thorn. We all know who you really want. You talked about her enough during training." I snapped out of the memory at Azula's words, watching her shove her district partner away from her and almost causing him to fall in the fire. Thorn just stared at her for a second, regaining his balance from her push, and then narrowed his eyes, hissing, "What do you know? All you cared about was getting ten seconds of Cato's attention, and it seems like that didn't work out so well, did it?"

"Guys seriously, stop arguing and start planning our strategy for tomorrow or something." The boy from one, Vino, said, and opened a packet of dried beef, sticking his hand in the bag and pulling out a strip. Thorn and Azula just glared at each other for another few moments then went in separate directions, Azula taking her place by the fire and Thorn going back to Coral.

Suddenly, I lost my balance on the snowdrift, my boots sliding a bit on the icy surface, and I let out a small squeal of surprise as I tried to get a grip before I fell. I realized my mistake too late before I heard all noise except the crackling of the fire cease, and my heartbeat raced when I knew that they'd heard me.

Oh god, I was _so_ dead.

"What was that?" I heard someone ask, my position not allowing me to see who'd spoken, and I prayed that they'd forget about the noise and move on. But of course that wasn't their style. They just had to find every threat and kill it without mercy, whatever it may be.

"Hold on, I'll go check it out." The person who'd spoken this time was Thorn, I being able to recognize his tone, and I heard a sword being removed from its sheath, the sound causing me to freeze in fear. Would that be the weapon that would end my life? Footsteps crunched through the snow, and I held my breath as they rounded the corner of the snowdrift, trying to make myself as invisible as possible. I dared to glance down to see Thorn surveying the area for any signs of life, his blond head turning to the left then to the right. His back was to me at that moment and I hoped with all my heart that he would not turn my way.

But luck wasn't on my side.

Thorn swiveled to look up the slope of the snowdrift and caught sight of me clutching the ice for dear life, an amused expression overcoming his face. I prepared myself to fight for my life, tensing every muscle, but strangely, all he did was stare at me. We locked eyes and I saw him smirk, causing that unpleasant chill to crawl up my spine. Then he gave me a look that said now-you-owe-me, and walked away, back to the group of careers and proclaiming, "It was some sort of artic mouse that the Gamemakers threw in to throw us off."

I let out the breath I'd been holding and glanced curiously at the spot where Thorn had just stood, wondering what had made him spare my life. That look he gave me before he left… now you owe me. Oh god, I hoped that didn't mean…

Swallowing my worry, I carefully made my way down the slope of the snowdrift and began to jog in the opposite direction, trying to rid my head of the reason's why Thorn had let me go. I knew he wanted to give the Capitol a show but… he wouldn't do anything on the air. Would he?

I began to run faster, gaining speed as I shook those thoughts from my head. No, Cato wouldn't let him do anything to me, Cato would…

That's when I remembered that Cato wouldn't be there to save me, not like the time when Azula had strangled me. That was the last time, I realized, that he would be able to do anything to help me, no matter what happened in the arena. Like he said, he'd be forced to sit in a room and only watch as Thorn cut off my head. I swallowed uneasily as I recalled those words, how angry and distraught Cato had sounded when he spoke them. My chest tightened at the memory and I kept running, wanting to diminish my fears with every pound of my boots against the snow.

I was becoming out of breath by the time I felt I was ready to stop, and was about to look for somewhere to rest but that's when I saw something unexpected out of the corner of my eye. It looked like the outline of a door, but it was slivery and faint, making me wonder if when I touched it, it would disappear. The first checkpoint. A button was placed next to it and I presumed it was what activated the portal to take us to the next location.

But it couldn't be this easy. No way were the Gamemakers going to give me a free ride to the next section of the arena without some sort of price. I cautiously began to walk towards it, warily checking around me every once in a while to make sure nothing was going to surprise me, and soon I was in ten feet of it, but as I took another step, a huge mass of white fur rushed into me and knocked me to the ground.

The first thing I heard was a low growl coming from the thing on top of me and when I glanced up, I saw a large set of pointed teeth staring back at me, making my stomach drop.

Yep, I was definitely not going to get through that checkpoint without a fight.

**Oooo, a cliff hanger! I love those, even though you guys probably hate me for doing that. Anyways, hope you enjoyed chapter 9 and for the last chapter i had a record breaking 14 REVIEWS! thank you guys so much for your support and i'll try to update soon!**

**xoxo **

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon **


	11. Chapter Ten: A Battle Under the Sun

**AHHHHH! I FINALLY UPDATED! im really proud of this chapter, so i hope you all enjoy it! And thanks to everyone who reviewed! it always make me feel so happy when i see that someone did, so keep doing that! XD anyways, as always, read, review, and enjoy!**

For a few moments, the beast looked at me and I stared at its snout, stunned at how fast it had come at me. It was like I was fine one second and then the next, BOOM, I was jumped by an angry puffball. My chest felt like it was caving in from the weight of the thing and I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the pressure much longer if I didn't find a way to get it off of me. Squirming underneath it, I tried to dislodge myself from its stomach area but whenever I moved, it would growl in this scary way, causing me to go still.

I thought to myself that if maybe I could get my backpack out from under me, I could wack the thing across the face with it and get away, but there was one slight problem. My arms were pinned down at my sides and there was no way I was going to be able to move them anytime soon. The monster roared again, and I winced as its rancid breath blew across my nose and cheeks, the smell making me want to vomit up anything I had eaten for breakfast that morning. My toes wiggled inside my boots as I tried to think of a plan, and I bit my lip as the beast growled once more. That's when I realized that up to my knees, my legs were free to move, and I contemplated kicking the animal to make it get off of me.

_Well, it's seems like my only choice so, here goes nothing,_ I thought, and began to raise my leg, inch by inch so I wouldn't alert the monstrosity that I was planning to attack it from behind. Soon, my boot was in position to ram into the back of the animal and without even a count to three, I jammed the toe of my shoe into its dense, white fur. The thing jumped for a split second, but that was all I needed to roll out from under it and try to scramble to my feet before it could dig its claws into my flesh.

The monster glared at me, its big black eyes menacing and merciless, and charged, tearing across the snow to launch itself at me. I whipped myself out of the way at the last moment and grasped a strap of my bag in my hand, preparing myself for its next attack. Again, the beast came at me, but this time, I knew my strategy. When it leaped to sink its teeth into my neck, I raised my backpack and slammed it across the animal's face, causing it to yelp and pause its confrontation. Feeling a bit proud of myself, I wondered what Cato was thinking of me at the moment. Did he find girls battling for their lives against bloodthirsty over-sized stuffed animals sexy? Okay, not the time to be thinking of that.

It pounced another time, it's shiny black claws gleaming in the bluish light that came with nighttime, and before I could maneuver my body away, one of those six-inch suckers slashed across my side, missing my jacket, which had somehow become unzipped, and cut thorough the fabric of my t-shirt. Hissing in pain, I grasped my side and I could feel the blood beginning to seep thorough my fingers, thick and hot against my skin. This was bad, very, very bad. No way could I afford to be seriously injured _now_, not when I had a mutation to defeat. Trying to ignore the burning of the gash, I focused my attention back on the animal, the beast glowering at me as if he so badly wanted me to be his next meal, and it pounded against the ground as it made it's way to me for the ump-teenth time. My head told my feet to move but they didn't obey fast enough because soon I was back underneath the thing, but instead of just sitting on top of me, it was trying to get a piece at my jugular. It nipped at my collarbone and I screamed as it tore away a bit of flesh, blood flowing from the open wound down towards the snow behind my shoulder. Oh god, I was going to die here, with this creature ripping me apart as I screamed myself hoarse. I mean, I knew it was going to happen, but did it have to happen this soon? Without even a goodbye to Flint, or a simple death that wouldn't be so hard for Cato to watch. As it bit at my hair, I let out a shriek and thought about what my parents would think of the moment, how they would react to their daughter being killed on live TV. Would they cry, or would they just shake their heads and say they knew it was coming?

All of a sudden, the animal let out a horrific yelp, one that shook me to my very core, and collapsed, now dead weight on my chest. It felt like my lungs were about to explode, but someone soon rolled it off of me and I sucked in a huge breath as I took in what had just happened. I had almost been killed and a stranger had saved me. But why would the person even bother, I mean, I was just another tribute in their way of going home alive. Unless…

"Miri? Oh god, are you all right? Just-just please tell me you're okay." A pair of arms wrapped around my shaking frame and I realized exactly who it was as soon as that voice left the person's mouth. Flint. My Flint had just saved my life. I squeezed him back and buried my face into his jacket, saying, "Flint, oh my god, how did you find me?"

Kissing my forehead, he answered, "I was walking around, trying to find where you where and I heard this thing growling. After I heard you scream, it only took me seconds to run over here and take that monster out with everything I had." He pulled me closer and I heard him sigh in relief that I was finally with him, that we were finally together. I was just so happy to see him that for a few seconds, I completely forgot about the gashes on my collarbone and waist, not realizing how much pain I was actually in until I gasped from the shock of it coming back to me all at once.

Flint picked up my intake of breath and pulled away, inquiring with a worried tone, "Miri, what wrong?"

"Nothing, it… it just got a few scratches on me, that's all." I said, trying to console him but I could feel the blood running down my chest from the beast's bite, a sharp stinging pulsing like a heartbeat. The bleeding at my side was much heavier but I didn't want him to fear for my safety more than he already was, so I didn't mention either of the wounds in detail. Flint didn't seem to convinced by my explanation, as he never was, and felt the outside of his jacket sleeve, his fingers coming away red, and he held them to his nose, smelling them to see what the substance was, even though I was sure he probably knew already.

Before he could say anything, I mentioned, "There's bandages in my bag, along with this anti-bacterial cream. They might help."

Flint nodded and felt around for my bag, coming across it quickly and opening the pack for the needed supplies. Soon, he'd recovered the two items and instructed me to remove my jacket so he could apply the cream. I did as he said while he slathered the ointment onto his hands and once he was ready, I guided his hand to the gash on my waist, sucking in air through my teeth as he applied it along the ragged flesh. His eyes widened as he smeared the stuff and he whispered, "This is a serious cut, Mirabelle. It's going to take weeks to heal, months maybe."

"Flint, don't worry, just hurry up so we can get out of here before a tribute comes along and hacks us to pieces." It came out snippier than I wanted it to and I instantly felt sorry as he began to silently wrap the bandage around my waist, winding around my frame a few times and then securely tied the ends so that it would stay put during all of the rigorous movements we'd have to do later on in the Games.

He helped me to my feet after he'd finished and I winced as the movement tugged at my cut, but bit my lip to keep from crying out. Flint brushed a stray lock of hair out of my face and then asked me, "Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded, murmuring, "Yeah," and he handed me my backpack, I then positioning it back where it was before that whole fiasco happened. Taking his hand, I began to walk towards the checkpoint, determined to make it out of this frozen place and he followed without complaint, probably guessing that I had found the portal. Once we were in front of it, I pressed the button next its sheer outline and a glass panel whooshed past us, sucking itself back into its slot and revealed a small room, big enough for a few people to stand in. Cautiously, we both stepped inside and I jumped when the glass panel slid shut behind us, sealing us in the space. A buzzing sound echoed for a few seconds and then a panel in front of us whizzed open, an entirely new landscape standing before our eyes.

"You may exit." A voice said from somewhere above us and we obeyed, our boots crunching on the dry land beneath us. As soon as we'd taken our first step, the portal vanished, leaving us alone in our new location. The voice continued as we analyzed the area, taking in what we would have to work with.

"Welcome to Australia's Outback. Once a place tourists would come to admire, this barren land has blazing temperatures and… little water, so, may the odds be ever in your favor." The voice then faded away and we just stared out at the vast, dusty ground that seemed to be never ending. A few lone trees were rooted on the land probably to give a tiny bit of green so that it didn't look so depressing but it didn't help much. There was also some shrubbery struggling to grow also, and I saw a flicker of something underneath one. Maybe it was some sort of rodent and if it was, hopefully there was more so it would give Flint and me something to eat. Well, if we ever got the supplies to kill one, which didn't look very likely at the moment.

"I guess we'd better start walking," Flint said and I nodded, proceeding to move towards the horizon, adjusting my pack to that it fit right on my shoulders. He kept close beside me as walked, glancing over at me every few seconds to make sure I was okay, cocking his head slightly to one side to listen better to my movements. After about an hour of him doing that, I turned to him and said, "Flint, I'm fine. Please stop worrying."

He smiled, pinching my cheek in that gentle way and answering, "Not worry about you? You expect me to do that after I had to save you from a giant polar bear?" I rolled my eyes at his words and forced myself not to smile with him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. But he knew me too well and added, "Okay, I'll try not to worry, but you have to try to stay out of trouble. Deal?"

"Deal." I blew a strand of hair out of my face and squinted against the harsh light of the sun, my eyes not ready to adjust to the sudden change in weather. Sweat was already creating a puddle on the back of my neck and it was budding on my forehead, making me feel sticky and gross. I could tell Flint was feeling warm too from the way, sighting the wetness on his skin. That voice had been right, this place had horribly hot temperatures and I felt like a pig roasting over an open fire. Not the best thing to combine with the stinging pain coming from my waist.

Finally, after deciding that I'd had enough with the heat, I let my backpack drop to my feet and shucked off my jacket, stuffing it inside my bag as Flint paused to do the same. That's when I realized that he'd been carrying a bag also and it was significantly large than mine. Putting a hand on my hip, I asked him, "Where'd you get that?"

"Same place you got yours." I instantly recognized the sarcasm in his voice and said, "Okay, you know what I meant."

He grinned at me as he bent to shove his jacket into the bag and chuckled, "I hid behind some crates in the cornucopia until the careers got what they wanted. Then I grabbed this bag that they'd left behind and started on my way. Not that exciting." Standing up straight, he cracked his neck and tugged his pack back onto his shoulders, waiting for me to begin our journey again and with one last curious glance at him, I shook my head and smiled. And he'd thought he didn't have a chance.

* * *

Night began its descent as we slowed to stop under one of those scarce trees, dropping our backpacks and placing our blankets on the ground for an attempt at comfort. We sat and as I began to reach for my jacket, the temperature now down in the fifties it seemed like, my stomach growled loudly, causing Flint to laugh. I sent a half-hearted glare at him and protested, "It's not my fault I'm a tiny bit hungry."

"I'm not saying it is. I'm starving myself." He began to dig around in his bag and once he'd found the right object, he pulled it out and handed it to me, the plastic wrapping crinkling in my palm. It was a package of nuts and dried berries, things I'd only tasted once or twice back in District 12, and tossing a thank you to him, I tore open the parcel and stuffed a handful into my mouth, the taste satisfying my pining stomach. Flint laughed again and leaned back on his elbows, watching me as I chewed happily and murmuring, "I haven't seen you that happy over a meal in a while."

I swallowed as he finished that sentence, knowing what it meant and I thought back on the last time I'd had an actual meal back at the community home. I had been the night before reaping day, when the staff usually tries to do something nice for us before we could very possibly go to our deaths, and I'd actually gotten my own small roll of bread with a tiny cup of watery soup. Instantly, I'd run over to Flint and showed him what I had to eat, my face beaming. He'd kissed my forehead and made sure I'd taken every bite I could before tucking me under the dingy quilt we had for warmth, telling me that I'd better get to bead early.

It felt like that moment between us had happened many years ago, like I was looking back on a scene from my childhood, yet, I was still a child.

Holding the packet out to him, I queried, "Want some?" Flint shook his head, but I knew he said that just because he wanted me to have it all, so I took his hand and poured it full of the nuts and berries, refusing to let him go hungry. He smirked as he felt the stuff against his skin and mumbled as he popped a dried raspberry in his mouth, "Damn stubborn."

"You know it." I said, a smile gracing my face and he just he let out a chuckle as he threw a few nuts between his lips, lying back against his blanket and closing his eyes as he savored their saltiness. I followed his lead and laid back against mine also, staring up at the stars and the deep navy of the sky. Suddenly, the capitol anthem rang through the silence, making my heart jump, and new faces were projected today. I kept track as they passed and as the seal faded away, I came up with the total number of dead tributes. 16. Three more people gone from the world. It mad me sick thinking about how their families were coping from their death's, imagining the mothers sobbing in front of the television while the fathers go out and take out their anger on anything they can find. I still remembered hearing last year that after the little girl from district eleven was killed while trying to blow up the careers' supplies, there was an uprising in her district, driven by grief and the horror that the Capitol would let an innocent child die for entertainment. Of course the Capitol stopped it before any rumor of rebellion began to spread but we all heard about what happened eventually.

"Do you remember what day it is, Miri?" I turned my head towards Flint as I heard his voice reach my ear, my forehead scrunching in confusion as I answered, "No, what day is it?"

"It's your birthday."

I completely forgot. Today was my fifth teeth birthday. I always kind of hated my birthday because it was always during the games and it reminded me that those kids dying on the TV could've be me, that I was that much closer to dying as a child. Flint turned to me also and lifted up the corners of his mouth, reaching a hand out stroke my hair, saying, "It's been… so wonderful to watch you grow into who you are today and…" He stopped and I could see tears building in his eyes, "…I'm so glad that you became my family, when I had no one. I'm going to miss you… so much when… when I'm gone."

"Flint, please don't-" I began to say but he hushed me, a tear falling down his cheek as he finished, "Happy birthday, Miri. I really hope it's not your last."

* * *

I woke up the next morning to the sun shining directly into my eyes, like the Gamemakers just wanted to see how much they could piss me off, and I pushed myself into a sitting position. Glancing over to Flint's blanket, I saw that it was empty and my chest tightened. Had he died while I slept? I frantically whipped my head around the area, and relief washed over me as I saw him cutting off the appropriate amount of bandage to redress my wound a few feet away from me, a little grin touching his lips when he heard me awake.

"Okay, buttercup, I need you to undo your old bandage for me." He moved over to me as I complied, unwrapping the blood-soaked fabric and wincing as I fully removed it. When I looked down to see how it was doing today, and my stomach curdled as I saw it. Red, blood red, yellow puss oozing down my side, and I wondered if those animal's claws were laced with poison, from the way it was seeming. It wasn't blood poisoning, thank god, but it seriously needed to be treated or…. let's just say I wouldn't die from decapitation. Flint applied more of the cream to the gash and I was glad he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, not wanting him to freak out and I stayed silent through the pain as he wrapped the new bandage around my figure. I hoped Cato was going to send something for it soon, if he sent anything at all. Maybe he wouldn't send anything…and just leave me here to die and when Azula wins, they'll get back together and he'll forget all about me and… the effects of the gash were seriously affecting my mind.

"Miri, eat some of this, okay?" Flint handed me a small handful of the nuts and berries, and I obliged, even though I was feeling sick to my stomach. Oh god, if this gash didn't get healed soon… I was gonna throw up. I let a few pieces fall into my mouth and ate while Flint packed all of our stuff back into our bags, looking out at the landscape to see if the Gamemakers had changed anything. Something towards my left caught my eye and when I realized what it was I shot straight up, grabbing Flint's and tugging him away from the place, his hands loosely holding our packs.

"What's going on?" He asked, his voice filled with worry, but I just kept pulling him away from our blankets, glancing in fear over his shoulder at what was barreling at us. Vino and Coral were clutching their weapons and grinning like mad people as they ran towards me and Flint, knowing they had found an easy kill. I saw them coming closer and closer, but Flint wasn't moving fast enough, still confused about what was happening, so I screamed, "We have to run!"

Recognizing the fear in my tone, Flint grasped my shoulder and pushed me in the other direction, allowing me to break into a run with him following behind me. My heart was pounding against my ribs and the gash felt like it was reopening, which was exactly what I did not need at that moment. I could hear puffs of Flint's breath next to me, letting me know that he was still okay and running.

"You better keep running, 12!" Vino called and I heard Coral laugh, their voices not far behind. Pushing myself faster, I ran and ran, checking every so often that Flint was still beside me and I was becoming lightheaded from the pain of my cut and from my lack of air. No, they can't do this, they can't kill a blind boy. It's… it's just not fair! Don't they have any heart? Footsteps thumped even closer and I just wanted to sob, from how horrible it all was. It was then that I realized, I didn't want to die, not in that way, not with someone ripping me to shreds on live TV. I wanted to live, to know parents, to have kids, to be with Flint, Cato, Cinna, even Effie and Haymitch for the rest of my life. I didn't want my story to end here. Not yet.

A hand yanked at my hair and I was thrown to the ground, a blade hacking at my face, but I managed to move out of the way in time, shrieking at the shock. Coral was smirking down at my horror filled form, pressing the blade to my neck as she pulled my head backwards so that it was digging into my skin.

"Well, wouldn't Thorn have been glad to see this?" She dug it deeper and I winced as I felt it break my skin a bit. "You know, he talks about you too much for my liking, but I can fix that. With one little swipe across your neck."

What was with these career girls being over possessive over the guys they like? And wait, Thorn talked about me, apparently a lot, if I correctly heard her. That caused the familiar discomfort to crawl up my spine, knowing that he had been thinking about me, let alone talking. I was brought back to the present when Coral forced the blade closer to where it could kill me, and I tried a hard as I could not to swallow.

"Nice knowing you, 12." She said, a creepy grin on her face, and I knew I was dead, so dead, but before she could slice my skin, someone threw her off of me and let her land a couple of feet away, surprise written on her face. Glancing up, I saw Flint was glaring at her, the scariest expression ever placed on his face, but he didn't see Vino coming at him from behind, the District 1 boy tackling Flint before I could warn him.

Jumping up, I ran over to the two boys and tried to pry Vino away, yelling, "Get the hell away from him!" In the frenzy, I was knocked backwards by one of his elbows, the point hitting my nose, blood already pouring from my nostrils as I tried to recover before Coral could get another run at me. But before I could take another step, someone grabbed me and threw me over their shoulder, with me pounding on their back and trying to stop the blood from my nose at the same time.

"Take her away! Now!" Flint had somehow made it to his feet and was yelling at the person holding me, a sword now in his hand and he plunged it through Vino's stomach, a cannon booming as Coral ran at him. The person carrying me began to move away from the scene but I slammed my fists on his back, not caring about the blood anymore, only wanting to go back and help Flint. They just ignored me, leaving me sobbing as I saw Coral take a swipe at Flint's head, him being able to hear it just in time to duck. My ears picked up the sound of a panel moving and I knew we were about to enter a checkpoint, so in one last attempt I struggled and reached a hand out towards Flint, crying as I screamed, "NO!"

Then, he was gone.

**you guys are gonna seriously hate me if i keep doing cliff hangers XD. THANK YOU to my reviewers, all of you loyal people who take your time to tell me what you think! PS if you can guess who the person carrying Miri is and be the first one to send in a review with your guess, i'll dedicate the next chapter to you!**

**xoxo**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon **


	12. Chapter 11: An Order from the President

**HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PEOPLES OF THE CATO/OC FANDOM! I AM BACK! REJOICE! XD Anyways i'm so so so so so so so so so sorry it took so long to update and i really hope you guys enjoy this chapter! BTW a lo of you guys were really close in guessing who was being carried away but the person who guessed the correct person the fastest was... *drumroll* ... ROSEMAPLE! CONGRATS! THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO YOUS! XD As always, read, review and enjoy :)**

"Let go of me!" I screamed, thumping my fists against the back of the person who'd captured me, and my tears mixed with the blood still pouring from my nose. The person didn't answer me and just kept a tight hold on my waist as he exited the checkpoint we'd entered only seconds ago. That made me angry, the fact that they had the nerve to basically kidnap me and then not give me an explanation as to why they'd done it. Not even bothering to listen to the voice announcing our location this time, I began to shriek again, sobbing as I shouted at my captor.

"Take me back! Take me back to Flint right now!" My voice cracked as I said his name and nausea plagued my stomach as I thought of him back there, fighting Coral with no one to help him. Would he be able to kill her, or would she slaughter him before he could even wield his sword? Just imagining him, all bloody and pale and dead on the ground, made me want to cut off Coral's head.

"Calm down. You're okay." A deep voice said and I paused my yelling at the person's words. It was a man, by the richness of his tone, and he sounded familiar, but I couldn't recall exactly who he was. My fists eventually uncurled and laid flat against his jacket as he walked, and I managed to slow my racing pulse, the fear dwindling as I realized that this person didn't seem to have the need to hurt me. We traveled a bit more before he set me down, and when I glanced up, my mouth almost dropped open at who was standing before me.

Helix was going through his pack as I stood there, pulling out a rag and a bottle of water and then turning to me. I was shocked. I mean, how had he found Flint and I out in that barren place? And why did he decide to save me when he could've easily just bashed me over the head and gotten one more tribute out of his way? Didn't he want to win, to go home to his district and see his family again? He poured some of the water from the bottle onto the rag, soaking the fabric, and he then lifted it to my nose, wiping away the blood that had fallen after Vino's elbow attacked my face. Apparently, I'd lost more than I thought because when he removed the once light blue rag, it came away red.

"Guess I can't use that anymore." He said, tossing the rag off somewhere to his left while he placed his water bottle back in his pack, leaving me there still staring at him with wide eyes. Noticing I wasn't doing anything except looking at him, Helix turned to me and asked, "What?"

"Why didn't you kill me?" My question caused him to freeze, glancing at me a second before he rubbed his palm across his face, kneeling down and fixing the laces on one of his boots. There was a silence for a few moments before he stood back up, and he moved over to a rock that was positioned by us, sitting down and placing his hands on his knees. "Because… you remind me of that little girl from last year, Rue. I knew her family, and after she was killed…" He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, adding, "I told myself that if I ever was forced to go into the games, I would try to stop a murder like that from happening again. From letting defenseless little kids be hacked to bits by those monsters that volunteer to be put in this hell."

I rubbed my arms, just gathering how cold the temperature was in this new location and walked over to him, sitting down also. It hadn't crossed my mind that he had any other motivation to win these games except to get out alive, like we all wanted, but for him, similar to me, he had a bigger mission to accomplish than just making it thorough the night. Right there, I gained a lot of respect for him, for what he did for me and why he did it. "Thank you, Helix." I murmured and he turned his head slightly towards me, smiling a bit.

"You're welcome." I cracked a smile too at that, and looked down at my hands, crusty with dirt and dried blood. I'd only been in here for three days and already, I probably looked like a person who hadn't seen a shower in months. Reaching up, I touched my hair and cringed when I felt how knotted my braid was, how much grime was clinging to the strands. Yeah, I'd bet Cato didn't find girls who looked like they just rolled around in a pile of dirt attractive. Helix noticed my discomfort and broke the silence, saying, "So, what do you think we should do now?"

I opened my mouth to answer but my stomach beat me to it, rumbling again and we both laughed, Helix chuckling, "I guess that means we should find some food."

Standing, he grabbed two things from his bag and I stood also to see what he was getting, surprised for the second time that day when he revealed two shiny daggers, handing them both to me. For a moment, all I did was look at them, sitting in my palms. I knew he'd managed to grab an axe but how did he smuggle these past the careers? Glancing up at him, I scoffed, "Okay, where did you get these?"

"The cornucopia." He caught my incredulous expression and added, with a grin, "You know, the careers aren't the only ones who can get weapons."

I smiled back at him and let the leather handle of the weapons rub against the skin of my hands, hefting their weight before tucking the heavier of the two in my bag. Then, I held tight to the hilt of the other one as Helix grasped his axe and then we both began walking in the search for any possible source of food. So far, I hadn't seen any but maybe there'd be some type of animal running around as we traveled further. Speaking of animals, I didn't even know what kinds would be in this place, considering I had missed the announcement of our location because I was throwing a fit.

"Hey, where are we?" I asked him, glancing around the general area to see if I could guess, but I didn't recognize anything from the geography I learned in school. Everything looked like it was covered in frost, from the grass to the treetops. If you looked at it in certain light, it seemed as if they were glittering, like jewels on an ornate necklace. That sight triggered a memory, one I didn't even know I had, and it was of my mother, pink crystal teardrops dangling from her ears as she reached inside a cabinet of our home, sparkling in the warm light of the afternoon. I think I was about four years old at the time, a year before she died, and I was seated at the table, my bare feet hanging from the chair, clad in a light yellow dress. My mother smiled down at me from where she stood, and asked me, "Do you want to make something special for Daddy before he gets home?"

I nodded, grinning up at her and she laughed, a pretty sound, grabbing a few things from what little we had in our pantry and placing them on a rickety kitchen table.

Never had I remembered a part of my life before my parents had died as clearly as that. Many nights I would try to recall something about my parents, anything that was lodged in the back of my memory, so I was surprised when something as simple as frost could conjure up a scene so vivid. Helix waved his hand in front of my face and I shook my head, mumbling, "Huh?"

"I said that the voice announced that we're somewhere in a place called Alaska. Part of what used to be the United States of America, I think. But you kinda zoned out before I could finish." He explained and I looked down at my boots as we walked, not waning to discuss what I'd been thinking about. I really didn't need all of Panem to know how screwed up my life was back in District 12. Wonder how many sponsors I'd still have after that.

"You still there?" I heard Helix ask, and I nodded, sighing. Thankfully, he didn't question me about anything else as we made our way deeper into our new environment and I let my mind wander to Cato, a topic I wanted to address but also wanted to ignore. How was he? Was he getting enough sleep or was he up worrying about what was happening in the arena? God, I hoped he wasn't worrying about me, even though I knew that he probably was, but I still wanted him to focus on something else, so that maybe it wouldn't be so hard on him when I bit the dust. Maybe he'd just ignore when Thorn finally came and carried out his promise. Who knows what it would do to him?

Suddenly, something rustled towards my left and I swiveled to see a rabbit like creature hopping across the grass, scampering away from us at a fast speed. In a spilt second, the knife in my hand flew towards the animal and lodged in it's back, causing the poor thing to fall over and the knife to stick up in the air. Helix looked at the dead creature and then back at me, his eyes widening at bit as he said, "I guess now I know how you got a 12 for your training score."

"Sorry, I've been hunting for so long, it's become a reflex." Sheepishly, I smiled at him and he just shook his head, walking over to the dead mammal and grabbing it by its ears, dislodging my knife in the process. Coming back to me, he handed me the bloodstained weapon and said, "Don't worry. It'll come in handy if Thorn or Azula start acting like rabbits." We both let out a laugh at his comment and I thought that maybe, it was possible that I could make it through one more night, even if that meant suffering through the agony of wondering where Flint was… or if he was dead.

* * *

**Cato's POV**

He stared at the ceiling as he lay in bed, having turned off the TV a while ago, refusing to watch her be hurt anymore. After witnessing her and Flint being attacked by those maniacs, he couldn't take seeing her like that, with blood pouring from her face and mixing with her tears as she cried. He'd wanted to jump into that godforsaken arena and cut that District 4 girl's head off for even threatening to kill Miri. His heart ached at the thought of her name, the thought of how he'd never have the chance to call her angel ever again and see the way she blushed when he smirked at her. It made him want to throw up.

There was no way he was going to get any sleep, not while she was fighting for her life, and he ran his palm over his face in agitation. If only he could protect her, make sure that no one even got the chance to get close enough to cause her pain. She'd hate him of course, for not helping Flint make it out alive, but he couldn't bear the idea of living without her.

He remembered when he'd felt that way about Azula, when he'd somehow allowed himself to care about that bitch. He regretted it now, having ever getting involved with her, and he wished badly that he could just erase every single moment he'd shared with her. To have a clean slate for Mirabelle, to love her and only her as fully as he could without having Azula in the back of his mind, taunting him about loving someone weaker than himself.

But Miri wasn't weak. She was stronger than even he was, overcoming the horrible things she'd told him about that had happened to her and Flint back in District 12, things that he didn't think he could've overcome. She went around, acting like everything was fine, but he knew her world was falling apart. And the worst part was that he could do nothing, _nothing_ to save her from the life that was crumbling around her.

Throwing his covers off, he raised himself to sit on the bed, swinging his legs over to the edge and he ran his hand through his hair. He couldn't let himself think about things like that, not while trying to stay strong and gather sponsors that could help her and Flint out there. It was a lot harder than he'd thought, attempting to find people to buy his tributes necessities, and so far, he'd only gotten five offers; three for bottles of water and two for packets of nuts. He'd wanted to scream at them, 'She scored a twelve, you idiots! Can't you offer up something that could actually keep her and a blind boy alive?!'

He seriously had to calm himself down.

Standing, he made his way across the carpet of his room, his toes sinking into the lush fabric as he walked towards the bathroom. Pushing open the door, he reached out his hand and flicked on the light, brightness flooding the space and he blinked a couple of times before he became adjusted to his change in settings. He glanced up and cringed when he saw his reflection in the mirror, disliking the circles under his eyes and two day old stubble that he'd hadn't shaved since Miri had entered the games. In fact, he'd been too preoccupied to do anything except worry about how she was doing and pace back and forth in front of that damn TV, only to see her be attacked twice in the short time she'd been in there.

Cato shook his head, clearing his thoughts as well as he could, and turned on the faucet, running his hand under the water until he decided the temperature was warm enough. Cupping some with his hands, he splashed it over his face and rubbed his palms against his skin, scrubbing away every doubt and concern he had away for the time being, so he could focus on getting a good night's sleep. He grabbed a hand towel on a silver rack to his left, raising it to his features and drying them, but before he could remove the cloth from his face, a gruff voice said, "Get used to it, kid. You're gonna have few too many nights like this."

Whipping his head towards the sound, Cato's eyes widened when he saw Haymitch Abernathy, the usual mentor for District 12, standing in the doorway to the bathroom, casually holding a glass of liquor in one hand with the bottle in the other. _How the fuck did he get in here?_ Cato placed his towel back on the rack, never taking his eyes from the victor who stood before him, and crossed his arms over his chest, asking, "Why are you here?"

"Kid, I've been mentoring for twenty-five years in this place. Did you think I wouldn't know the combination by now?" Haymitch chuckled, looking amusedly down into his drink before taking a sip. By the stench of him, Cato could tell that the man had been sucking down alcohol for at least three hours straight, and when the guy finished the amount in his glass within ten seconds, he realized that he was most likely drunk. As always.

"But why did you decide to come here?" At his question, Haymitch staggered a step forward and leaned against the edge of the sink, placing his glass down on a table next to him, and sighed, a long, drawn out, dramatic sigh. Yeah, he was drunk.

"I came here…to give you some advice." The victor burped in the middle of his sentence, and Cato wrinkled his nose at the smell of it as it came closer to him. Okay, who was this guy to think he could come into his suite at like two in the morning and 'give him some advice' on what he should do. This guy hadn't been in the games for twenty-five years, whereas he had fought and won just last July. No way was he going to sit here and listen to a lecture from an intoxicated idiot.

"I think I know what I'm doing." Cato said and at that, Haymitch turned towards him quickly, the glaze in his eyes being overcome by sharp anger. Grabbing him by his neck, the man pushed Cato against a wall, one hand at his throat, one hand clutching his flask of spirits. At first, Cato was too shocked at fatigued to do anything about his situation, but he began to glare at the victor in front of him as soon as he'd gathered his bearings. Haymitch seemed unbothered by his intimidating glare though, because he just glowered back and growled, "You think this is easy, boy? Mentoring these kids to fight and then trying to help them survive in that hell? Wait a few years, and you'll see it's no piece of cake, no matter what district you're from. So what if you get saddled with a bunch of well-trained brats year after year. It won't make a difference after the first time you see a kid you've grown used to be slaughtered by some cocky tribute who thinks they can win. In that department, pretty boy, I could write a whole book, and you know, the only thing that helps is a drink every so often."

Letting him go, Haymitch stared him down for a second more before sauntering a step backwards and picking up his glass, moving towards the door with a sort of swagger that comes with the effects of liquor. Before he left though, he turned back and said, "Watch out for that girl. One moment she could be fine, the next, you could see her with a spear through her neck."

With those final words, he walked away, leaving Cato stunned and maybe just a bit wiser. He decided after a few moments that he probably would take the few words of advice the old man had given him, and he rubbed the skin of his neck, surprised that for a man so drunk, he had a pretty strong grip. Maybe there was a bit more to Haymitch Abernathy than anybody saw or cared to see.

Ugh, he was too tired to even want to know.

* * *

**President Snow's POV**

President Snow sat back against his chair, staring intently at the screen before him as the blind boy from District 12 managed to slice the District 4 girl's neck clean open, letting her fall on the cracked earth with a sickening thud. One of the more gruesome kills of the games for far but, he was sure there was plenty more to come because, there always was.

It was interesting, he thought, the relationship between the boy and his district partner, the small girl who somehow managed a 12 in the individual evaluations. Speaking of that, he reminded himself to ask Seneca exactly how the girl had done it, or if it as just a ploy to turn the other tributes against her. It wasn't the first time he'd ordered it to be done, sensing that a particular games needed to be spiced up on occasion.

But suddenly, as he watched the boy blindly make his way to the checkpoint and disappear, another scene then popping up in his place, Snow had… and idea of sorts. Reaching out a finger, he pressed a button on his desk and waited for the crackle of electricity to signal that it was on, hearing the head Gamemaker's voice ask, "Yes, sir?"

"Seneca, I need you to do something for me." He clasped his hand together over his desk as the man replied, curiosity lacing his tone, "Of course, sir. What needs to be done?"

Fiddling with a smooth stone that was placed on his desk for decoration, Snow rubbed it between his fingers and said, "We need to give our faithful audience a show this year. A show so spectacular and grisly that one could never forget it. One that would… tear apart a bond that has grown too close for these games." Snow paused a moment before adding, "Do you understand what I am requesting, Seneca?"

"Completely, sir. I'll make sure it happens as soon as possible." Another crackle sounded and the connection was dropped, leaving the President to the peace and quiet of his office again. He smiled as he glanced at the stone that he still held in his palm, and thought of the events to come within the games he'd so craftily spun.

It seemed only fitting that the type of stone he held in his hand was know as flint.

**You guys are gonna hate me for what i made President Snow do, but don't blame me! blame him! anyways i hope you guys loved this chapter and please review! *puppy dog eyes***

**xoxo**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon **


	13. Chapter 12: Pricked by a Thorn

**Hey! I'm back! And I have an extra long update for you guys! God, I hope you can forgive me for not updating in like a month and i hope this chapter makes up for it! Also, I'd like to thank my reviewers, who always make my day when you take you sweet time to tell me what you think! Love you guys! Anyways, as always, read, review, and enjoy!**

After we'd snubbed out the fire, Helix and I sat down on two fallen logs and ate some of the rodent I'd caught, our chewing being the only sound in the quiet night. The meat was tender enough to eat without much trouble, as I'd had some problems with the toughness of my game in the past, and it actually tasted better than some of the animals I'd caught back home. Ripping a strip of it off the bone with my teeth, I let the smoky flavor envelop my tongue and watched the last few remaining embers fizzle into ash. Helix tore off a piece of his also and looked up at the sky, which had rapidly turned dark after I skinned and gutted the animal a few hours ago. It felt like the Gamemakers were making the days shorter, and the nights longer on purpose, but with my mind so frazzled and not having eating anything substantial for a few days, I couldn't be sure.

Helix tossed his bone into a strip of foliage beside him and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, and I turned to him after he let out a huge sigh, wondering what was wrong. Finishing off my meal also, I threw my scraps away also and swallowed, then opening my mouth to ask, "You okay?"

He nodded, but as he ran a hand over his face, I knew that he wasn't telling the truth. Not that I blamed him, I mean, you never knew who you could trust with your thoughts in the Games. Just last year, the district 1 girl, Glimmer, had let herself go all starry-eyed over Cato and when she'd gotten too clingy and started to tell him everything, he just turned around and snapped her neck. I winced at that thought, of how brutal Cato was back then. How he could just… kill somebody without even caring that he was taking someone's life. It made me… sick to my stomach, to be honest.

"So…" I began, about to change the subject, but as soon as I was going to continue, the anthem of Capitol began to blare throughout the arena and as I looked up, I saw the seal floating against the navy sky. My stomach tightened; this was the moment I'd been anxious for all day, to see if Flint was dead. Clenching my fingers around the fabric of my jacket, I counted off the newly deceased tributes inside my head; Vino, Coral, and the girl from 11, Poppy. Wait, if Coral was dead, that meant…

"He's alive." I breathed, an incredulous smile plopping onto my face and I let out a small laugh in joy. Flint was okay, and that was all that mattered, that he wasn't gone from my life. Turning to Helix, I was about to celebrate the news with him but when I saw his face, it was streaked with tears. That's when I realized… his district partner had been killed, probably by the careers. I could tell he was trying to hide it, but when he glanced at me and met my gaze, a few more tears slipped down his face.

God, I felt so insensitive, not even bothering to ask him about how his district partner or how he was doing so far in the games. All I'd cared about was Flint and myself, and looking back, I kinda seemed like a brat. Standing from my log, I walked over to where he was sitting and placed my self next to him. From where I sat, I could hear him struggling not to let his sobs show, and guilt plagued me, gripping me by the throat. I waited a moment before placing my hand on his arm, hoping to comfort him in some way, and tentatively said, "I'm sorry."

"It's…it's okay…" Helix ran his palm over his face once more and let out a broken sort of laugh, one that sparked a pain in my heart. "It's just… I thought that I could've protected her, you know? Could've helped her make it farther than she did…but now, I feel like I let my district down and…" He trailed off there and I didn't push him to say anything else, knowing how hard it would be for me to talk about anything if Flint had died. So we just sat there for a few minutes, with him trying to let the death of his district partner settle into reality. I couldn't imagine how hard it was at that moment for him, to deal with the loss of somebody close to you. I mean, yeah I'd felt horrible when those kids died during the bloodbath but I didn't really know them, so how could I compare that feeling to the pain Helix was feeling? I guess the fact was, I couldn't.

Abruptly, Helix stood, leaving me sitting alone on the log and began to wrap what was left over from out half-eaten rodent in some type of foil he'd found in his pack, saying, his voice hoarse, "Well, I'm glad your partner's alive. Surprised he managed to kill both of them, though."

I knew he was only trying to lighten the conversation by saying that, but I didn't want to bring things back down so I went over an helped him, murmuring as I wrapped an uneaten leg inside a square of crinkly silver, "Flint's full of surprises. Most people just forget to look past his blindness…"

Stuffing the remainder of our food into his bag, he nodded in understanding and slung it over his shoulder, sighing as he waited for me to join him in standing. I followed his lead, knowing we should keep moving to make sure no one could follow our tracks. We began to walk farther into the arena, neither of us saying much of anything and I rubbed my arms in an attempt for warmth, the temperature dropping just like it did in the past environment. Also, I didn't realize how exhausted I was until we traveled maybe two miles, my eyes drooping and my pace slowing. I was almost just dragging myself along by the time Helix looked over and stopped me, leading me over to an area he'd found that he deemed suitable, saying, "Okay, before we go any farther, you seriously need to rest."

"I'm fine." I yawned, but he just rolled his eyes good-naturedly and spread out a blanket on top of the grass beneath our feet, smoothing it out as he said, "Mirabelle, I don't think Flint would appreciate it if I didn't do my best to keep you alive and letting you waste your strength like this isn't going to help my case." He looked up, motioning for me to lie down and, giving into fatigue, I obliged, shrugging off my bag and tucking my knife into the belt of my pants, in case we were attacked during the night. It felt weird, not having Flint by my side as I tried to fall asleep, as he usually was back home in District 12. My stomach tightened as I realized that I'd probably never spend another night with him by me again, and I curled up on the blanket, hugging my knees to me as I tried to shut out all the pain. A blast of sudden wind blew past us and I shivered, causing Helix to notice and, in such a sweet gesture, he took off his own jacket and placed his over my trembling form.

"Thanks," I said, and he gave me a half smile, cleaning some dust off of his axe and looking out at the darkening landscape. Stars were already beginning to make an appearance in the sky and I flipped onto my back so I could look up at them, hoping to locate some constellations. On occasion, Flint and I had looked through a crack in the ceiling in the community home and I'd managed to find some basic ones like Orion's Belt and the Big Dipper, explaining what they looked to him. Analyzing the sky above me, I recognized one that I didn't really pay much attention to, but somehow caught my eye. The Archer, a constellation that had an "arrow" always pulled taut and pointed north. Most people used it for when they got lost somewhere, the image helping them find their way back home.

"You looking at him, too?" I turned my head sharply to see Helix staring up at the stars too, and he glanced over to explain, "The Archer. We used to use him all the time at home, if we ever got lost during harvesting time." He smiled faintly and lay down next to me on the blanket, pointing out another constellation with his hand, reaching it out towards the sky as he said, "I always liked the Little Dipper myself, because I felt like it was always being outshone by the Big Dipper. You know, it was an underdog…sort of like me…"

Tilting my head, I looked up at his face and saw him wistfully gazing at the pattern of stars. I never thought he would've thought himself an underdog, being so intimidating, but I guess no matter who you are, these games could make even the fiercest person rethink their strengths. I wonder if even Cato thought at one point he would lose, that it ultimately didn't matter if he was a career or not.

"Get some sleep. Trust me, it's a good idea." At Helix's words, I nodded and closed my eyes, knowing he was right and that I'd need all the sleep I could get, and feel into a slumber where the games were only a dream.

If only that were true.

* * *

I woke sometime during that night, expecting to be stationary and lying next to Helix but instead, I was splayed out on the ground what seemed like a good few feet away. And strangely, that distance seemed to be growing larger…

Struggling to go back to the blanket, I attempted to move my arms but gathered that they were bound behind my back with some type of material. A tugging was also coming from my jacket and, my panic rising, I tried to cry out, only to find that I was gagged with what I thought was a ripped piece of someone shirt. Helix was still asleep back on the blanket and I dug my heels into the ground, trying to save myself from being dragged too far away. The person who was pulling me grunted and from the sound I guessed it was a boy. Running through my list of living tributes, I found it had to be either Thorn or the boy from 6, and with my thoughts being so jumbled up at the moment, I couldn't figure out which one of the two he was.

"Mmmmrrrrrfffff!" I screamed, my words distorted by the cloth stuffed in my mouth but it seemed like my voice wasn't loud enough to wake Helix, causing my chest to tighten in fear. The boy dragging me muttered what sounded like a string of profanities and let me drop to the ground for a second, positing me so I could see his face. It was hard to tell in the dark of the night but I knew that it wasn't Thorn because the boy wasn't nearly as broad as that nightmare was. He leaned in closer to my face, his features becoming more prominent and a sort of smile came over his lips, one that scared me almost as much as Thorn did.

"Shut up, will you? I don't want you waking up 11 over there, because I'm hoping not to get my hands dirty tonight." With that, he began to start tugging me over the grass once more, and I whimpered as my hands scraped against a rough patch in our path. Where was he taking me, and why didn't he just kill me in the middle of the night? Would've been much faster than taking the time to bound and gag me, and then drag me away to a location. I mean, I guess he had to have some other purpose then to just to kill me, if that was the case at all.

"You know, when Thorn asked me to come find you and bring you to him, I thought it would be a hell of a lot easier. Maybe he'd even ask me to join the careers, but no, all he's gonna give me is a few weapons and some food." It didn't really sound like he was talking directly to me as much as it sounded like he was saying it to himself, but at the mention of Thorn's name, my body tensed. Oh god, he really did want to carry out that promise he made on the aircraft… and I'd thought he was only trying to mess with my head. I couldn't let this boy hand me over to him because I had no idea what things Thorn had in mind for me, and I desperately didn't want to find out, especially not on live TV.

I yelled words of help through the gag as I thrashed around, trying to dislodge my limbs from his grasp and the boy mumbled another curse before taking a moment to get a better hold on me. "Stay still, for god's sake." He muttered, but I refused, taking that split second to roll away from him, trying to get myself close enough to Helix so that he could hear my pleas. The boy grabbed once again and shoved his hand over my lips, even though I was gagged, and growled menacingly into my ear, "Shut your damn mouth or I swear I'll cut out your tongue."

He pulled me farther away from my ally and soon, after about a period of five minutes of me struggling and him murmuring threats, I could barely make out Helix's frame in the deep navy of the night. This couldn't be happening. I mean, who was I to Thorn? I was just some girl from District 12 that nobody gave a damn about so why did he want me out of the picture so badly? I guess I would find out soon enough if I didn't find a way to get that boy to stop kidnapping me.

Something sharp poked the side of my leg and I winced, not knowing if I'd been dragged over a pointy rock or if the boy had poked me with a weapon in warning to be quiet. That's when I remembered; I tucked my knife into the waistband of my pants earlier in the night in case of a situation like this. The only problem was, since my hands were tied behind my back, I had no way of getting hold of it. Unless…

I moved my bound hands over to the left side of my body and tried to grasp the handle of the weapon, it only being a few inches away from my fingers. Using the momentum of the boy's pull, I swung my wrists closer to the hilt but again, my palms missed it by centimeters. _Come on, come on_, I pleaded inside my head, just wanting to feel some sort of hope that I could make it out of this alive, and when I finally managed to hook my index finger around, I let out a sigh of relief. Now, I only had to get the blade at an angle where I could nick him and hopefully get him to drop me.

"God, why did you have to be all the way out here?" He muttered to himself and tugged me sharply in his direction, causing me to almost drop my weapon. Clutching it, I waited for a chance to position it in just the right way, but with each little drag, he kept throwing off my aim. I just wanted to start sobbing from the frustration of it all but I knew I couldn't let myself go, not at this point. I still had to get to Flint, figure out a way to keep him alive and I was not about to let this boy or that bastard Thorn keep me from achieving that. So the next time that stupid boy pulled my jacket, I pointed the blade upwards and let it plunge into him, his pained yelp sounding my victory.

I hit the ground harder than I expected and when my head smacked against the dirt, the gag somehow managed to slip down my face. Seemed like he ignored the knot tying station during training. The cut on my side stung and burned, making me wince and, hoping to wake my ally, I screamed, "Helix!"

At my outburst, I faintly saw some rustling coming from our blankets, his voice floating faintly across to me as he murmured, "Mirabelle?"

"Help!" I called out again, and this time I saw him sit up, his body turned to where my voice was coming from. Standing, he grabbed his axe and began to run towards me and my captor, who cursed when he saw the hulking boy charging at us. Covering my mouth with his hand for the second time, the boy tried to drag me faster away from the scene but when he realized he'd have to choose between me and his life, he let go of my jacket and bolted, making it about ten feet before Helix tackled him to the ground. They wrestled with each other for a bit, the boy, who I realized now was from District 6, trying to pin down Helix as my ally attempted to hack at the boy's head with his blade.

I felt hopeless, just lying there on the ground as they fought, not being able to do anything to help. Twisting my wrists around, I figured that if 6 hadn't tied the gag well enough, maybe he hadn't done well with the handcuffs either and I shrieked as the boy pressed his hand to Helix's neck, cutting of his air. Helix tried to push 6 off but I could see he was becoming more fatigued every second he went without a breath. A scene popped up in my field of vision, the one of me in the training center with Azula's arm clasped around my neck as I struggled to breathe, looking up at Cato and Flint as their faces became blurry. I knew what it felt like to be in his situation, but I knew that there was no one coming to save him, no one around to rush to his aid. Except me. And I _had_ to do something, for everything he'd done for me and for Flint. I wouldn't let him die, not yet.

Summoning some unknown strength, I managed to slip my writs from the fabric tying them back and frantically raced to grab my knife, abandoned where I had dropped it after impaling the boy in the leg. As I glanced over, I could see the boy's hand still clamped around Helix's throat and jumping to my feet, I clutched the weapon in my hand and hurried over to both of them, throwing myself onto 6's back, taking him off guard. He tried to shake me off whilst trying to finish off my ally, but I held my ground, doing the only thing I could think of to save him at the moment. Bringing the weapon down at the boy in a quick swing, I plunged the blade into his back, hearing him cry out as I forced the metal deeper. Again and again, I thrust the dagger into him, only thinking about that hand he had against Helix's neck and how desperately I needed him to remove it, not stopping until the boy began to slump to the ground, his canon booming as soon as his body slammed against the earth.

I let myself drop onto my bottom and released my grip on the dagger, staring uncomprehendingly at the deep red holes I'd made in the boy's back, watching the crimson of his blood seep into his clothes, staining them beyond repair. Helix was still on the ground, catching his breath and sat up, saying, "You…okay?" He coughed, giving me a look and then staring down at the boy. I guess something in his head clicked because he moved over to me, placing his hands on my shoulders and murmuring, "No, Miri, don't think like that. You were only trying to get him off. Don't blame yourself."

How could he be so naïve? I had to blame myself. Who else was there to blame? His blood wasn't on Helix's hands and he hadn't been holding that knife. My stomach curdled as I looked at the boy's crumpled body, thinking about how distraught his family must be. I'd just taken a boy away from the people who loved him, stolen him away from the world forever and I hadn't given it a second thought. Oh god, I could feel dinner creeping it's way up my throat as I watched his blood soak into the grass beneath him.

Helix grabbed my chin and turned my face away from the scene, looking into my eyes and saying, "Miri, you can't let yourself think that way. Not in these Games. You have to stay strong if you want to make it out." I nodded, despite the nausea in my belly, and tried to focus my thought on something else. He was right, I couldn't allow myself to feel bad for what I'd done, but how could I not? I'd just killed a human being, a living breathing person. How… how could I live knowing that I'd done that?

Trying to clear my thoughts, I glanced around our setting and caught a glimpse of a familiar silvery outline that I knew I'd seen before in the arena. Another checkpoint. But when, and how, did it get there? Maybe I was too disoriented to notice it before but I didn't think that was the case. Pointing it out to Helix, I asked, "Do you remember when Claudius said that the checkpoints would be harder and harder to find later in the Games?"

Flicking his eyes over to the portal also, he nodded and inquired, "So? It didn't seem that hard to find this one."

"I think I know the reason why…" Standing, I walked closer to the checkpoint and cast my eyes back to the dead boy for a second, realization clouding my mind. No wonder I hadn't seen it before. I closed my eyes for a second, letting the new information sink in before I turned back to Helix, saying in a softer tone, "To get one to appear… you have to kill a tribute."

His eyes widened at my proposition but as he glanced between the shimmering outline and the boy, he realized I was right. Once he locked eyes with me again, I knew we were both thinking the same thing.

Shit.

* * *

It was daylight when we passed into the next section of the arena and I blinked a couple of times as my eyes adjusted to the light. We were surrounded my lush vegetation, giant trees, and humid air, making my hair stick to my neck uncomfortably. The announcer proclaimed that we'd stepped off into the Amazon Rainforest, the largest rainforest in the world a couple hundred years ago, and I could see why. It was nothing but green for as far as I could see.

Helix wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, his skin shiny with sweat and said, "Should we get to walking?"

I nodded at his comment and in unison, we strolled deeper into the place, the humidity of it making the air hot and thick. My boots sunk into the forest floor as we walked, and I struggled not to trip over one of the many interweaving vines at my feet. This place seemed more like a death trap than a rainforest, but if I wanted to live, I'd have to work with what we got. Glancing around, I wondered how many other tributes had made it to this section, and almost shrieked as I saw a huge beetle crawl across a large lime colored leaf.

Helix shifted his gaze over to me and chuckled slightly, saying as he brushed a fly out of his line of sight, "Never thought a girl who would sacrifice herself to save her district partner would be scared of a bug."

I flicked a piece of hair out of my face and indignantly held my ground, my voice coming off as petulant as I countered, "It was a big bug. Excuse me if I freaked out a little."

He just chuckled again, holding up his hands in surrender and focusing on our journey once again, while I tried to keep from sweating like a pig. Thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided that this place was actually worse than Australia. For one, it was humid and hot here, and two, there were bugs the size of my fist roaming around. Shuddering, I tried not to let my thoughts wander to ones that involved me running into a giant spider web or finding out I had a huge wasp on my back and adjusted the straps of my bag, keeping my mind distracted with other things.

I guess we'd been walking for about an hour before we reached the river, a large streaming barrier of water that slashed through the undergrowth we'd been prowling for what seemed like forever. My throat burned in longing at the sight of the rushing liquid, and to quench my thirst for them moment, I swallowed some of my own saliva, though it didn't help much. Helix and I looked at each other for a moment and in a silent decision, we both knew we would set up camp here. It seemed safe enough; direct access to water, protection from tributes on the other side, a possible fishing source. So, placing our bags down, we took a moment to stretch and then began to settle in, Helix grabbing his axe while I shook my hair from it's braid, knowing it was probably greasy and crusted with dirt.

"I'm going to go check out what's happening around this place, okay? So just stay here until I get back." He hefted the axe in his hand, and I nodded, placing the ribbon Cinna had tied my hair back with in the pocket of my jacket. With that, he turned and plowed his way thorough the foliage we'd just come through, leaving me staring after him. And suddenly, I felt very, very alone. Not to mention vulnerable.

I fingered my hair once again and made a face as I realized just exactly how nasty it felt. A choice had to be made and glancing at the river, I knew what I had to do. I had to freaking wash my head like no tomorrow or I was going to end up cutting it all off, which wouldn't help me keep my sanity intact in any way. Unzipping my pack, I pulled out the blanket and headed over to the edge of the water, trying to find a spot where the current wasn't so strong. Walking a little to my right, I came across a patch where it was calm enough for me to dip my head under, and shrugging off my jacket, I kneeled by the edge and tentatively let my hair sink into the liquid, scrubbing away all the dirt and grime. It felt nice to be rid of the mess, to be clean. Back home, we didn't have a whole bunch of chances to bathe, but at least we were adequate in our cleanliness.

Using my fingers, I combed through the tangles, wincing at times when some strands stuck together, but as Effie would say, 'Beauty is pain, darling.' I kind of missed having her around, nagging me about what I should and shouldn't do. It was almost like having a mother around… and I'd longed for that since the day mine had died. Bringing my head up from the water, I winced as some droplets sprayed in my eyes and pushes my hair back from my face, grabbing the blanket and using it as a makeshift towel. I rubbed it along my scalp, making sure I dried as much of my hair as I could and then used my fingers once again as a comb, eliminating most of the tangles before I braided it down my back again, tying the end with Cinna's ribbon. Standing, I grabbed the blanket and my jacket and turned to go back to the campsite but I froze when I saw who was standing there.

Thorn was leaning against one of the tree trunks, smiling steadily at me in the way that made chills race up my spine and he held a sword in one of his hands. My stomach dropped to the ground as I stood there, not sure whether to run or to fight, neither seeming like a good option. He chuckled at my reaction and said, sauntering closer, "We meet again, little bird."

I tensed as he took another step towards me, clutching the blanket and jacket in my arms, my fear paralyzing me to the spot. He let out a bark of laughter and traveled a few more, enjoying watching my eyes grow wide in fear. God, he was messing with me again. Thorn finally stopped, satisfied with the way I was reacting but just when I thought he was done, he came right in front of me, his broad frame barely two inches from my chest. I was too afraid to glance upwards, to look him in the eye, that causing him to bring his mouth to my ear, whispering tauntingly to me, "Come on, _Mirabelle_, you know why I'm here."

I had absolutely no idea as to why he was there, and I shuddered when he uttered my name. I hated him so much, hated how he could make me feel so inferior to him. My body burned with loathing but it soon faded into a freezing cold as I heard his next words. "You owe me, little bird, and now I've come to collect."

No. Not this. Not now. I wasn't ready, I… I hadn't even gotten to Flint yet. Thorn wouldn't do it, he wouldn't dare do anything so vulgar on live TV. At least, I prayed he wouldn't.

"Thorn…please…" I choked out, my heart squeezing in my chest and the brute chuckled, tugging at the blue ribbon in my hair so that it came away loose into his palm, allowing my hair to fall from the braid and lie around my shoulders.

"A souvenir, I think." He grinned and tucked the ribbon into his pants pocket. I closed my eyes, trying to shut him out, but he grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him, into his scary blue eyes. His voice chilled me to the bone with his following sentence, "Time to pay up."

He brought his mouth down to mine, but I twisted out of his grip before our lips could touch, running as fast as I could away from him. I made it two trees away before Thorn grabbed me and threw me against one of the trunks, growling, "You. Owe. Me."

I struggled in his grasp, desperately trying to think of a way out, but when none came, I just felt like giving up. Thorn pushed his hands into my hair and tried to bring my face to his a second time but I pushed him back, startling him. Oh god, I wanted out of this mess, I wanted someone to save me. Then the name of the one person who had helped me before wandered into my head, and without giving it much thought, I screamed, "CATO!"

It only seemed to enrage Thorn more at the mention of his old mentor, and he slammed my body against the trunk again, causing me to scream once more, "CATO!"

"Stop saying his name!" He burst out, pinning me to the tree by his sheer size and I stared fearfully up at him, scared of what he might do. He glared down at me, and I could see the anger in his eyes, but I also saw something that surprised me. He looked hurt, like someone had outright jus said that they hated him or that the girl he loved had just rejected him.

Wait…oh no…

"God damnit! Can't you fucking see? Haven't you realized already?!" He grimaced for a second, making me terrified of what he might do next, and then laughed ruefully. "I like you, okay! There, I god damn said it!"

Holy crap. I wasn't expecting this. Thorn, who terrorized me all the way through training, who said he wanted to kill me, actually _liked_ me. Where the hell did that curveball come from? Nobody ever told me about stuff like this happening! How was I supposed to prepare for this?

"I saw you during training, and I offered you that alliance because I fucking thought that I had a chance with you! I was so stupid to believe that you would fall for me, and obviously, I didn't succeed, right?" His voice was breaking at points by then and I could see tears beginning to form in his eyes, one dripping from the corner of his eye down his cheek. I… I didn't know how to handle it, how to handle him liking me. Did it mean he didn't want to kill me, or that he was going to kill me, or something else?

"But I'm too late. Cato fucking Kingsley sunk his teeth into you before I even had a chance. And you love him, don't you?" He paused, waiting for me to reply, and when I didn't say anything, he slammed me against the bark for the third time, roaring, "DON'T YOU?!"

What do I say in this type of situation? I can't say yes or else I'll be beaten to death, and I can't say no or I'd be leading him on, which I did _not_ want to do. So I glued my mouth shut, refusing to answer him. He stared at me for another few moments before whispering, his voice broken and his eyes sad, "You love him…"

He cursed under his breath as a few tears slipped down his face again and when he glanced up at me, I almost felt bad for him. But that pity was replaced my sheer terror as he caressed a hand over my cheek, fingering the cut he'd carved on my skin only a week ago. It was so gentle, so tender, and it scared me, causing my heart rate to rapidly beat in my chest.

"I can still make you mine. I can take you from him just like he took you from me. With one blade through your stomach." His gaze hardened and I saw him raise his sword, aiming it for my belly. Oh god, he really was going to do it, he really was going to kill me. My mind scrambled to think of something to stop him, and before he could raise the weapon another inch, I did the only thing I could think of.

I kneed him where it hurt.

"Fuck!" Thorn yelped, clutching the wounded area as he fell to his knees, dropping his sword behind him as he did. Seizing the opportunity, I made run for it, grabbing my jacket as I leaped past him, but before I could get five feet, a hand jutted out and grabbed my ankle. I shrieked, tripping to the forest floor, and took a brief moment to glance back at my attacker. Thorn had an iron grip on my leg, his eyes burning in hate and he tried to pull me towards him as I clawed at the undergrowth, trying to find a vine to grab onto.

"You little bit-" That was all he could get out before I kicked him in the face with my other boot, freeing my other leg, and causing him to let out a string of cuss words. I hurriedly jumped to my feet, wanting to run from the area as soon as possible before he had a chance to get up but just as I was about to take a step, a cannon boomed throughout the arena.

And somewhere in me, I knew who's it was.

**Bet you guys weren't expecting that twist were you? Well, anyways, please review and stick around for more of the fun!**

**xoxo**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon **


	14. Another Author's Note XD

**Hey guys! Well, I have some good news and some bad news. Good news is I am almost done with the next chapter, and I apologize that it's taking me forever. The bad news is that my laptop that had the doc on it has been broken and it might take a while to be fixed. I hope you guys can forgive me, but i PROMISE that the next chapter will be super good! And i feel like all of you that have been reading and reviewing Eternity totally deserve some responses to your reviews so I'm going to finally give you guys some!**

**I am Hylla daughter of Bellona: thankies for reviewing my chapters! :DDD**

**MoonByDaySunByNight: I know, i kinda felt bad for him when i was writing it but then i was like "oh whatever he'll deal" XD and you know now so i don't have to tell you XD**

**RoseMaple: thankies! and i know, when she called his name i thought it was cute yet so sad at the same time. and i'll hopefully be able to update soon!**

**IamAnnabethdaughterofAthena: thankies! :D**

**Jaguar Queen: thanks! and i might take you up on the jaguar thing XD**

**I am Calypso daughter of Atlas: thankies!**

**SopranoGhostWriter: thanks! and I'll try as hard as i can to update soon!**

**telekinesis1728: thanks! and i can't reveal anything about what's going to happen yet,but i hope you'll stick around to see what happens!**

**Hop3lessROmant1c: thank you so much! and I'm excited to write it! XD**

**DancingAroundAFire: thanks for taking your time to read my story! and I'm glad you had fun reading!**

**StayGoldxx: thank you so much! :)**

**MissKatryn: thanks! im always afraid that you guys are gonna start hating me if i keep ending my chapters with them. XD And I can tell you one thing, Cato is NOT happy. XD**

**trollalalala: thankies! I hope you stay tuned for the coming chapters!**

**Niki: thank you so much! And I'll try my hardest to update as soon as possible!**

**hungerthegames: thank you! I do try hard to make sure my character are complex enough to make the story interesting and I'm glad you noticed!**

**Amaya-hime: Don't worry, you'll find out as soon as my laptop is fixed! and thanks for your review!**

**AbbyMellark12: thank you so much! :D**

**Well, hopefully my laptop will be fixed soon and I'll be able to give all of you wonderful people an update!**

**xoxo**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon **


	15. Chapter 13: A Loss in the Game

**Hey everybody! My laptop has been fixed and here is the chapter you guys have waited so long for! Consider it a belated Christmas present ;) And there is a terrible tragedy in this chapter but I hope you won't hate to much after you've read it. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy and please review! It always makes me happy when I see that someone has written one! **

**Cato's POV**

He better not. He better not fucking do anything to her. Cato clenched his fists as he sat on the couch, now at the edge of his seat ever since Thorn had snuck in close to Miri. That bastard smiled at her in a way that made him want to rip the kid to shreds and if he weren't in the company of Finnick and Brutus, he probably would've jumped up and ran to that arena just to get the deed done. Glaring at the screen, he figured he'd entertain himself with the idea of slicing off the boy's head but as soon as Thorn took one more step towards her, the glass he'd been holding in his left hand broke, splashing alcohol down the length of his pant.

Finnick sent him a worried glance and handed him a napkin, saying optimistically, "She'll be okay. She's stronger than he thinks."

Brutus snorted and, as he placed the napkin over the stain to soak up the liquid, Cato flicked his head towards him in annoyance. What did he know? All he knew was what he learned from District 2 tributes, never even bothering to get to know the other competition. It's not like he wanted to either; he always thought District 2 was the best, no exceptions. Ignorant ass.

"Thorn…please…" Cato tuned his head towards the TV as heard Miri utter those words, his stomach tightening as he watched the brute close the space between them, his fingers reaching out towards her hair and tugging at the blue ribbon that had been tied carefully in a bow. "A souvenir, I think." Thorn whispered menacingly and Cato glowered at the boy, grinding his teeth together in anger. He hated the way he was toying with her, he hated him being that close to her…he just hated him in general. He'd been an asshole since the day Cato'd met him on the train, looking at the girl tributes on the replays of the reapings like they were meaningless little objects for him to play with. Thorn had given Miri special interest though, ever since he saw her during the chariot rides, around the same time Cato himself had started noticing the tiny girl from District 12.

Finnick sighed, the sound echoing in the small room, and Cato glared up at the screen while Thorn made a grab for Miri as she tried to run. She made it only a few feet before he threw her up against a tree, growling something to her that Cato couldn't hear through his anger. He wanted his hands off her. Now. Or he was going to lose it big time and he swore all hell would break loose when he did.

Miri looked absolutely terrified, pushing Thorn away as he tried to kiss her against her will, and in a moment of panic, she let loose a scream that would haunt Cato for years to come.

"CATO!" He tensed at her voice, so distraught and scared as she yelled his name, and forced himself to stare back at the screen, only to see Thorn slam her against the trunk of the tree in an effort to shut her up. She winced in pain and called out once again, hopelessly pleading for a savior that couldn't come to her, not matter how much he wanted to. "CATO!"

He couldn't take it. He….he couldn't sit there and listen to her beg for him to save her. Standing, Cato strode angrily over to a small table set aside to hold food and drinks for the mentors while they watched the games, and placed his hands over the edge, leaning his weight against it as he squeezed his eyes shut. His fingers curled against the wood underneath his palms as he listened to Thorn confess feelings for Miri. It all made him so mad, but the bastard said something next that pushed him over the edge.

"I can still make you mine. I can still take you away from him, like he took you from me. With one blade through your stomach." As soon as those words reached his ears, Cato snapped. In anger, he hooked his hands under the table and flipped it towards the wall with a roar, causing the food and liquid to splash across the carpet. At that, Finnick stood, his face creased in concern, and said warily, "Cato, calm down."

Blind in his rage, Cato ignored him and charged towards the TV, raising his foot and smashing it against the screen, causing the device to topple to the ground with a thud. He didn't receive the effect he wanted though because he could still hear her pitifully trying to get away, and in a second attempt, he went to kick the TV again but was restrained by Finnick and Brutus as they grabbed onto his arms. Thrashing, he roared at them, "Get the hell off of me!"

"Settle the fuck down, Kingsley. You can't do anything to save her now." Brutus growled into his ear and tightened his grip as Cato struggled, his face slowly turning red with fury as he tried to dislodge himself from their grasps. She wouldn't die. Not here, not now. She had to come back to him or he would go insane. Fighting back against them, he tried to rip his arms away but was unsuccessful, his heart slowly breaking as his old mentor finished, "She wasn't gonna make it out anyway, kid."

Summoning some unknown strength, Cato managed to pull himself away from them as he screamed at the man who'd helped him out of the arena himself, "FUCK YOU! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HER! FUCK ALL OF YOU!"

"Cato, you don't need to shout-" Finnick began to say, but he cut him off, glaring daggers as a tear slipped down his cheek. "She's gonna die and you're telling me not to fucking shout?! Are you shitting me?! What if that was Annie, huh?! Don't tell me that you would be screaming your ass off too!" With those words, he knew he'd gone too far, but he was in too deep to back out now. Finnick just stared at him with wide, hurt eyes for a few moments before his gaze hardened, his voice becoming a snarl as he said, "Annie has nothing to do with this."

"Oh really? Miri is to me just like Annie was for you, and I know you were barely able to sit still when she was in her games, so why don't you go and-"

"Shut your damn mouth, Cato, before I do it for-"

"Both of you, shut the fuck up!" Brutus rumbled, and just as Cato was about to make another comeback, they were all silenced by the sound no one ever waned to hear during the course of the games. A cannon. And Cato's stomach sank as he though of who it could be.

* * *

**Miri's POV**

My heart jumped in my chest that the noise, paralyzed to my spot by the fear that the dead tribute could be…could be him. What scared me more, though, was the sound I heard just before the cannon had gone off. Something like a scream. A scream that made me itch with familiarity. Thorn had paused too at the echoing boom, and his eyes darted to a section of the foliage to his left, muttering under his breath, "Azula…"

I followed his gaze toward the patch of forest and wondered if he and Azula had set up camp in that direction, but it seemed like a long shot, considering in these games, they seemed to be traveling more than waiting around for their prey to stumble by. And, it sounded like the owner of the scream had been male, too deep in pitch to be a girl. So why had he uttered her name?

Clenching my fists and seizing the moment, I ran towards where I'd heard the cry, my heartbeat pulsing in my chest as I pounded the undergrowth. I scrolled through the mental list I kept of the living tributes and took note of how many male tributes were left. Thorn, Helix, and Flint. Thorn had been with me when the cannon went off so he was obviously out of the equation, and the voice hadn't sounded rich enough to match Helix's tone. That meant… Flint…

Panic gripped hold of my throat as I pushed myself faster through the forest, not caring that branches were whipping my cheeks and my lungs were shriveling with every second that passed. I had to make it, to see if I could somehow save him, even though I knew it was impossible. My stomach was in knots, causing me to want to throw up everything I'd eaten in the past week and it only grew as I kept running, begging inside my head for him to be alive. I almost tripped over a vine as I rounded a corner to avoid smacking into a tree, and up ahead of me I could see a small clearing. Even from the distance away that I was, I could smell the irony scent of blood and my heart lurched.

Trying not to pass out, I burst into the clearing, my eyes frantically searching for the fallen tribute. They first landed on Helix, who was standing a couple feet down from me, his axe taut in his grip, and then they traveled on to Azula, her blond ponytail matted and caked with crimson. Her clothes were also splattered with red, telling me that she'd made this a bloody kill and, letting my gaze stray over to the victim, I felt myself become numb.

He was propped up against the tree, ripped pieces of clothing tying him in a standing position, and his wrists were bound together, lying limp against his body. A sword had been plunged through his stomach, the blade so deep I was sure it had pierced the trunk behind him, and thick burgundy liquid clung to the metal before dripping down to stain his clothes. His head was tilted slightly to the side, a shaft of light shining down upon his face in an eerie, final way, and it seemed as if he was sleeping, all of the muscles in his face relaxed in peace.

I moved silently over to him, my feet taking me closer without any direction, and with every step, my chest tightened in pain. He couldn't be gone, not this soon. I'd promised to get him out, no matter the cost, and if he was dead… then I'd failed him. And I couldn't afford to fail him, not when there wasn't another choice. It was live or die and… it wasn't supposed to be him up against the tree… it was supposed to be me.

"Miri…" Helix's voice softly traveled to my ears, but it sounded farther away then he was. All I could focus on was Flint, and the fact that he was dead. The boy I had grown up with was dead. And I was too late to save him. Everything from the past few days began to bubble up inside me, all the anger and fear that I'd experienced flushing to the surface of my skin until I felt like it would burst through. No. It wasn't supposed to end this way. It couldn't end this way. Not while I was still breathing. I mean… I hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye.

A strangled sort of scream ripped out of my throat and I threw myself at him, shaking his shoulders while tears began to stream down my face. "WAKE UP! FLINT, PLEASE, WAKE UP!" My cries only became more desperate as he lay limp throughout my pleas for him to live, and I laid my head against his broad chest, sobbing when the heartbeat I yearned to hear wasn't there. I screamed again, this one sounding animalistic in a way, and I clutched at his shirt, yelling into him, "YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME HERE! PLEASE, FLINT!"

No answer followed my shouts and something inside me seemed to break, like a part of me just crumbled into nothing. I let loose another shriek, my body shaking with the racking sobs coming out of me, and tightened my grip on Flint's shirt, as if somehow holding onto it would bring him back to life. Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms go around my waist and tug me away from Flint, and Helix's voice said in my ear, "Miri, it'll be okay, just let go…"

"NO!" My cries heightened in their pitch and volume as he tried to pull me away from my brother, and I thrashed under his hold, kicking and pounding his arms with my fists. It didn't seem to faze him as he dragged me farther away but I could hear him trying to reason with me, attempting to coax me out of my distress. I lashed out against him again, screaming at him to let me go, to let me go back to Flint. Overhead, the rumbling of the hovercraft that would carry my brother away forever sounded throughout the forest, and I glanced back at him, tears blurring my vision as I yelled his name for the last time, my voice cracked and raw.

But he didn't wake, as I had longed him to. Nor would he ever. And as he was lifted into the air, my heart burst from chest to be raised into heaven along with him, for him to take. Then, he was gone, no longer able to live by my side.

From that point on, my body and mind was a mess of anguish. I let loose all sanity as I turned my gaze on Azula, reaching to grab my dagger as I ripped out of Helix's arms and charged toward her, only focused on getting revenge for his death. She actually appeared scared as I raised my arm to toss my weapon, but Helix caught me in his grasp again before I could execute my plan, causing me to cry out in anger. Why was he stopping me? Didn't he want her dead too? Just one less tribute for us to fight off...

"Miri, stop it. You'll regret it if you kill her now." How could he say that to me? He saw what she'd done and he was expecting me to let her off easy?! No way. Not after everything she put me through. I screeched in rage as I stared daggers at her prissy little face and dug my nails into Helix's arms, wanting him to set me free so I could rip every blond hair out of her head as painfully as possible. No, that wouldn't be sufficient enough. I'd tear out her fingernails, or cut off her toes one by one. I was not about to let her leave my sight without seeing that she suffered.

Thorn suddenly appeared by Azula's side, and my gaze slipped to him. He seemed to feel a bit sorry for me, from the expression on his face, but he was a part of this killing too. He was a career and he deserved to die for their deeds, whether he took part in them or not. In fury, I hurled my dagger at his stupid pitying face and felt some rejoice as the blade scraped the side of his cheek, causing him to curse loudly as the weapon lodged into a tree behind him. If I wasn't so angry, I would've shot the dagger straight through his skull, but my aim was all over the place. Azula tossed her gaze over to me for a second before making a break for it to a checkpoint a little ways away, leaving her district partner behind. How loyal.

Breaking free from Helix once more, I followed her, running to grab my weapon before tearing my way over to the portal, vengeance being my only goal. Once I got there, I realized she'd already stepped through and the glass door was sealed shut. Seconds later, it opened once more and I leaped inside, but heard Helix yell, "Miri, no!" as the door began to close, causing me to whip my head towards his voice. My stomach dropped as I saw Thorn tackle him to the forest floor, but it was too late for me to turn back because the door slid closed, the familiar buzzing noise arising once more and the automatic voice announcing my location for the fifth time, prompting me to turn around and face my new environment.

"Welcome to London, England. Now, just to warn you, the weather here is not as… sunny as some of your previous locations, but it will be as equally as interesting. Oh, and don't forget, you might want to have an extra pair of clothes for your stay!"

What did he mean by that? An extra pair of clothes? I stepped out of the portal angrily, my eyes searching for the blond haired bitch, but I couldn't see anything through the pouring rain that was pelting down onto the cobblestone beneath my feet. Instantly, my shirt was pelted with droplets and the wet fabric clung uncomfortably to my skin, causing me to realize why the extra outfit was needed. My heart was still pounding in my chest, and the rain mixed in with the tears that were still falling over my cheeks, masking them in a way. That's when it all sunk in. Flint was dead, I had left Helix behind to face his death, and I felt more alone than ever.

Not caring that I was going to get soaked, or that I was leaving myself open for attack, I numbly sat on down on the sodden street and curled into a ball, cradling myself inside a cocoon that ultimately protected me from nothing. It seemed fitting. I had been sheltering myself with the idea that Flint could make it out alive but yet, when I expected it to keep me safe, it failed me. The tears were returning, gaining intensity in their heist, and I let them come, drowning in my own sorrow. Over and over again, I murmured his name, as if he would magically appear in front of me if I said it enough. But the only thing it brought me was more hurt, and in some form of release, I began to scream, sometimes his name or Cato's or my parents', and sometimes just incomprehensible noise. I hoped they got what they wanted, the stupid people of the Capitol. I hoped they got the show they were eager to see, because it had cost me everything. Everything and more.

* * *

**Finnick's POV**

He put his head in his hands as he listened to the poor girl scream in agony, not being able to bring himself to look up and face her. It reminded him too much… too much of memories that he didn't want to even think about. Digging the tips of his fingers into his forehead, he tried to block them from his thoughts and for a moment it seemed to be working. Then suddenly, a scene burst into his vision and he could do nothing but watch, his heart panging at what he saw. Annie, her face laced with horror as she stared down at her decapitated district partner, screams ripping out of her throat at the sight that she beheld. They sounded so eerily familiar to the one's coming from the tiny girl on screen, and just that fact made him shudder. No, he didn't want that for her, for her to bury herself so deep in her despair she could never dig a way out. Not when she had such promise. Cato had told him about her skills with a knife and he already knew about how well she could swim. But she also had the ability to brighten the room with just a simple smile, and he could see how happy she'd made his friend in the past week. He ran a hand over his face as he thought of what this could do to Cato, if she became like his Annie. He'd be overjoyed that she made it out, but would he be able to deal with the effects the whole ordeal had on her mind? Cato was a great guy and all, but he didn't have the best patience and Finnick worried that he might just up and decide that he couldn't deal with her anymore. Then where would she be? Her only family had just been murdered and he hardly though she'd be able to live on her own back in District 12. He'd been there once on his Victory Tour a few years back and he could tell that it wasn't the ideal place to live, most likely not fit for a girl who isn't in her right mind.

"Finnick?" A quiet, sweet voice entered the room and he forced a smile to his lips as he lifted his head, turning to face her as she stepped inside the small space. "Hey sweetie, what's up?"

Annie just shrugged, walking over to him with a gait that was graceful yet wary, as if she wasn't sure she could trust her surroundings. She'd let her hair down for the day, the way Finnick liked it, and he kissed the top of her head as she sat next to him, twisting the fabric of her dress in her fingers. Another scream from Miri sounded on the television and she winced, winding the material tighter around her index. He cursed and muted the volume, hoping the noise didn't disturb her too much and put an arm around her, saying gently, "You okay?"

She nodded, still facing her lap, and sighed, the sound floating around in the newly arrived silence. Finnick creased his forehead but didn't press any further, knowing that if he did, it could be disastrous. Though she was getting better slowly day by day, the slightest thing could send her spiraling into a sadness he wouldn't be able to dig her out of for months. He remembered one time where he'd dared to raise his voice to her, and she wouldn't talk to him until the Christmas after it happened. It had sparked a fearful cautiousness within him that he always kept on guard, and he was always extra careful when he held a conversation with her, as to not set her off.

Those conversations usually involved talking about the most unusual things, like why birds could fly, or why nothing rhymed with the word "orange". It amused him actually, and he looked forward to the small talks they had, however brief they were before she would drift off into her own little world again. She would wander off into another room and sit down by the window, looking out at the street with a faraway expression. Though he hoped she'd never know, it pained him to see her like that, so far gone from the Annie he used to know. The sweet girl who loved to laugh and read books in her spare time seemed to have never existed, and was only a figment of his imagination. He wake up in the middle of the night to hear her screaming, his heart aching as he ran out of bed down to her room, pulling her onto his lap and into his arms to console her. It hurt him more than anyone knew.

"She's stronger than me, Finnick." Glancing down at her, he saw her watching the screen in a pondering way as the girl laid face up in the rain, her face flushed from crying. He looked at the television for a second more before turning his gaze back to her, asking in a soft voice, "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"She won't end up like me. I can tell." After that, she sighed once more and leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes and going off into that world he longed to break her free of. He was surprised. He never thought that she knew there was something wrong with her, just always assumed that she was too oblivious to realize, too far gone to ever come back. And for a second, it gave him some sort of hope that she might be able to return, the Annie of year's past.

He kissed her head and whispered into her hair, his voice tender, "For Cato's sake, I hope she doesn't."

**I just had to put a little Fannie love in there! It was just too good to resist! Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed it and stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**xoxo**

**I am Charlie daughter of Poseidon**


	16. Chapter 14: A Change of Heart

**Hey guys! Sorry, I think this is the longest time it's taken me to update and I sincerely apologize for that and the fact that this chapter is relatively short. But no matter! Hopefully you guys enjoy it, nonetheless, and please read, review and enjoy! **

It seemed as if the rain would never stop pouring as I laid there for what felt like hours, gazing up at the sky as it began to darken with the threat of even more storm clouds. My clothes were thoroughly soaked to the skin by that time but I didn't care. Nothing mattered, not even the fact that if I stayed out in this cold for much longer, my death was very plausible. I swallowed as my eyes closed for a moment, and my throat pained as the muscles tightened to push my saliva down further. My voice had been lost hours earlier from all of the screaming protruding through my lips, and now, my throat was as raw as my agony from Flint's death.

It didn't feel real, that he was actually dead. Maybe he was just lost out there somewhere, waiting for me to come find him. But I had to tell myself that I couldn't go down that path of thinking, that I was only setting myself up for more torture. A part of me crumbled with every thought of him that floated through my head, and even though I wanted to cry, no more tears would come, as if my ducts had run dry. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. He'd died too young with too much of his life ahead of him, and there was nothing I could do to bring him back. My only family was gone.

Why hadn't he cried out for help? Why didn't he try to call out for me? It would've only taken me mere moments to reach him and stop Azula, but yet, he'd stayed silent until the final blow. As I questioned his motives though, I knew the reason, and it made my stomach curdle. He didn't want to be saved. He wanted to die so that I would live, even while he knew that it would wound me just as much as a knife would. I was furious at his stubbornness, wanting to yell at him for what he did, though he did it with good intentions and with me in mind. I shivered in the cold but didn't make a move to warm myself. Death could come as it may and I would surrender without a fight, tired of battling for my life. Speaking of battling for life…

Helix. I'd left him out there without an ally to face Thorn alone, and as I looked back on my rash exit, I regretted it fully. Two tributes had passed through the portal already, and knowing that, one of them would have to die so that the other could leave. Was Helix a proper match for Thorn? Would he be able to fend him off or would Thorn slaughter him like a calf tied down in a cattle stall, waiting to be turned into veal? I swallowed again, the pain still following, as I thought of him dead, just like Flint. If he was killed to, I would go insane from the loss of two people  
I loved. I might've only known him for a few days, but I thought of him as a friend, and it would alone drive me crazy if he died because of me leaving him back there.

_God, Miri, get yourself together!_

Huh? I paused my train of thought for a moment and scrunched up my forehead, confused as to where that voice came from. Sitting up, I glanced around but silence and empty spaces were all that met my gaze. Could it have been Claudius? No, he wouldn't say something like that to a tribute, much less one from District 12.

_Get yourself out of that hole of self-pity and start fighting! Think of Cato. Would he be proud to say he was your mentor right now? I don't think so, missy!_

Maybe I was dehydrated or something. No way was a voice inside my head talking to me, egging me to push forward. There was no possible way. I smacked the side of my head, trying to get whatever was speaking to me to knock it off, but it only ended in my ear ringing loudly for the next few minutes. I was finally going crazy. I mean, I knew it would happen at some point, but this soon? Oh, god, I was going to becomes the next Annie Cresta. My stomach dropped as I thought of how Cato would handle that, and if he would even say he had anything to do with me if I actually went insane.

_Mirabelle Vivian Reed! You get up right now and focus! Azula could be right behind your sorry butt at this moment and you'd be so caught up in your miserable little thoughts that you wouldn't even know until your head was rolling on the cobblestone!_

_Well, maybe I'd rather be dead. Ever think of that?_ I challenged, and then realized how stupid I was being, talking to an imaginary noise in my head. But, I guess if it knew my whole name, it seemed to be more legit than I'd first thought. Wait, what was I saying?

_Flint wouldn't want you to sacrifice yourself to be with him. You know that._

Considering what it was telling me, I knew that it was speaking the truth, and that whether I wanted to hear it or not, Flint wouldn't want me to be with him if it meant letting myself die. He'd tell me I was stupid and ignorant to do it, and would probably never forgive me for what I'd done. Okay, this whole thing was starting to freak me out just a little bit, and I decided to test the voice out to see if it was actually as justifiable it seemed.

_Okay, okay, I get it. But do you want me to do? By the way, what's my favorite color? _Ha, let's see it answer that one!

_Lavender, and I want you to start acting like a victor, like you've already won this thing. Do that, and it'll make Cato_ and _Flint proud._

Damn, it was good. I nodded, and questioned it once again. _So what do I do now?_

No answer. Creasing my forehead in perplexity, I tried to get it to speak to me again, but it proved to add up to nothing. Fantastic, just….perfect. Sighing in frustration, I stood and glared up at the gray sky that was slowly inking with navy. Why couldn't it all be over with now? I was sick of the blood and the death and that stupid voice that was making me actually start to believe I was crazy. All I wanted was to just get out of here. It wouldn't even matter if I was half dead and couldn't even think straight. I just wanted _out_.

But what about Cato? What would it do to him if I came back like that, insane and barely breathing? Or…what if I had a death like Clove's; my head being bashed in before I could even scream my last words? It would kill him. Wound him in way I couldn't even imagine. If I was in his position and had to watch him be slain in the way that Flint was, I'd be strung up by a rope from the ceiling fan faster then you could tell me everything would be all right. I might've only known Cato for a week, but I already knew I loved him.

At that thought, I had to pause. I loved him. There, I actually said it. Well, thought it, but you still get the picture. It was such a big, serious word to use, though as soon as the sentence wandered around in my head, I realized that it was true. All of a sudden, a heat rose to my cheeks and the scene of our rooftop kiss flooded my mind. His mouth on mine, rough but oh so gentle at the same time, as if he wanted to do everything in his power not to hurt me. He made me feel like I was this special girl, one who dated handsome boys like him all the time and sparkled when she entered a room. Everything about that kiss caused me to get tingles in my toes and feel light-headed. What I would do for another kiss like that….what I would do to just be in his arms again…

I shook my head. I shouldn't be thinking of silly little things, not right after Flint's death. It didn't seem…right. Coughing into the sleeve of my jacket, I jumped as thunder crashed in the clouds above, rain spilling down in sheets that felt like ice. I shivered and began to run down the street, searching for some type of shelter while hoping that running would keep my body temperature close to normal. I bet if they wanted to, the Gamemakers could simply tweak the amount of rain coming down and send out a flood, drowning me for their entertainment. Wouldn't that be a lovely way to go?

Suddenly, up to my right, I saw a doorway that had a striped awning over it and I immediately saddled up underneath it, wrapping my arms around myself. It wasn't much, but at least it would keep me dry until the rain stopped. If it _ever_ stopped. The only thing it seemed to be doing was pouring down even harder than it was seconds ago, and when I poked my hand outside my haven to test the pressure, it felt like pebbles pelting my skin. I examined my palm after the assault and little red welts were puffing up on my epidermis, making me cringe. I never knew rain could be harmful, but then again, I wasn't the one who had the power to make it so.

Soon, the wind had changed its path so that the droplets were now blowing into my small alcove, and, longing to break away from the flying icicles, I turned to face the door behind me, pushing the door open with a final thrust. I rushed inside the musty space and slammed the wooden slab closed, the sound barely even being heard over the patter of rain outside. Then, flipping myself around, I glanced over the place I'd stumbled into; an average sized store, not different from the size of the bakery we had back in District 12, though this seemed to have been much nicer than ours. I ran my fingers along a small glass case that was probably used to store pastries of sorts, and fantasized about a time when they were actually in there. If only I could reach in and pluck one away from the rest, taking just a bite of it's sweetness. My stomach growled at that thought, and that's when I realized how hungry I was. So far in the Games, I'd been eating fairly well, but I hadn't had much since last night. Wait, could Helix and I have been in Alaska only yesterday? It felt like a few weeks ago to me with all that had happened. I reached behind me to grab my pack but found it to be missing. Groaning, I mentally cursed at myself as I remembered that I'd left it back in the forest in the previous location. All because of _Thorn_. Oh, I hoped he was dead now.

A noise from the ceiling above me floated into the silence, something that sounded like feet pacing across the floor. Feet… that meant…

I tensed as the footsteps occurred again and again, forcing myself to glance up at the ceiling, and I swallowed as I head more than one pair of feet. I knew Azula had to be one of them since she had stepped through the portal first, and that meant the other had to be either Helix or Thorn. Which also could mean that Helix, if he was the one who had made it out, had turned against me and decided to ally with the enemy. Just those words made my stomach go queasy. He knew what I could do with a blade, whereas Azula knew none of my ability, and if he told her, it would give her an advantage.

There was a staircase, small and steep against the wall to my left that led to a second floor, where the shop owner had probably lived. I approached it slowly, taking care not to make any noise as I climbed the rickety steps. I knew I could possibly be setting myself up for my own death but at that point, I was too curious to even care. At the top, I swiveled to walk down a narrow hallway and pinpointed the voices to be coming out of a door at the end of the hall, one of the few up there. Cautiously, I made my way over to it and dared to press my ear against the wood, the surface rough against the thin skin.

"You barely finished him off! You call that an 'easy' fight? What are you, high?!" Azula screeched, obviously angry with her ally about the fight back in the Amazon, and for a few seconds it was silent as the boy contemplated an answer.

"At least I stayed and fought, whereas you and your sorry ass ran off as soon as she glared in your direction." He hissed, and I paled as I recognized it as Thorn's voice. That mean my only ally left in this charade was dead. Before I could begin to cope with the news just thrust upon me, Azula heightened her pitch and yelled, "What would've been the point of killing her then? So that when you and I got rid of her and her ally, we would have to kill each other just like that, and then it would be us fighting to win?! And we all know who would win that fight!"

I heard Thorn take a step, presumably closer to her, and he said in a low voice, "You're scared of her. I _know_ you are. You've been scared of her ever since she scored a 12. Probably even before that." He scoffed. "You have no idea what she's capable of and that makes you nervous, doesn't it?"

"I'm _not_ scared of a little nobody from a backwater district that no one cares about." Her tone turned defensive, but it wavered towards the end, as if she wasn't so sure of her confidence. Apparently something on Thorn's face must've told her he noticed her change of attitude because she immediately covered up her mistake by saying, " I'm not the guy who's fallen in love with her."

"So what? I'm in love with her. I admit it. But you can't even admit to yourself that you're scared you're losing Cato…" He paused, "…and your _life_ to her."

I swallowed at his words. So he really was in love with me. It surprised me, though, that he thought I could win this, judging he had that viewpoint by his previous comment. All this time I thought he figured me to be some pathetic weakling that wouldn't make it past the first five minutes. He'd masked his affection pretty well, I'll give him that, but it shocked me that he'd acted in such a brutish way if he wanted to win my favor. To use force…it won't get my attention in a good way, to put in nicely.

"Cato has his head in his ass! Once he realizes who the real victor will be, he'll realize he wasted his time on her and come crawling back to me." I picked up a shove being handed out and someone stumbled, Azula continuing on in her rant, "And she would _never_ be able to kill me. She doesn't have the guts."

Thorn laughed, the sound making me shiver and he retorted, "Yet, when that knife came hurdling at us, all you could do was run! And you say _she_ hasn't got the guts? More like you don't. What was that old nickname you had again? Oh, right… Scaredy Cat."

You could practically hear the sneer in his voice and Azula screamed, "I WAS NOT SCARED!" Then, all I could sense for the next few moments was shoving and muttered curse words. I was staring to tremble by that point, not sure if they would knock into the door and reveal my hiding spot, but it grew worse when I heeded the dull thud of a blade meeting flesh, and the groan of pain emanating from Thorn.

He fell to the floor and I winced as I heard his body crash upon the wood, shaking as Azula snarled, "Next time I see you, it'll be sitting with Caesar and watching you die a second time on the big screen." Thorn tried to say something in response, but it only came out as a sound of unimaginable pain, a moan of sorts. She chuckled in response and in the background, a portal whizzed, causing me to guess that they also appeared when a tribute was close to death and not completely deceased. Light, jaunty steps patted across the floor over to where the checkpoint was, and a buzzing sound occurred as Azula placed herself inside, the noise ceasing soon after. Thorn's labored breathing still poured out into the silence, and knowing he was close to death, I dared to open the door slightly. I wanted to see what had become of the man who had tried to kill me, yet had loved me at the same time.

When I opened the door far enough for me to step inside, I paled at what I saw. He was positioned on his back, stark white and had a dagger sticking out of his abdomen grotesquely as blood soaked the surrounding fabric. He didn't even bother to look up as I came in, his eyes closed as he fought to breathe, and they didn't open until I came within two feet of him. I froze, paralyzed by his icy blue eyes as they ran over my face and down the length of my body, snapping up to my face again as I took in a breath. It seemed he was about to say something before his face crumpled and he let out a grunt of misery, telling me that his death wasn't going to come mercifully.

At that moment, I pitied him, even though I knew I shouldn't. I mean, why should've I after what he'd tried to do to me? But looking at him in his pained state made me realize that he'd only ended up this way defending me. A girl whom he has loved even though he knew she would never love him back. My heart squeezed in sorrow and I let myself settle next to him on the floor, not sure what to do to help him since he was already too far gone.

"Take it out, okay?" His voice came out tender, so different than the commanding tone he'd used before, and it made me want to cry. Why be so nice to me now? After everything that'd happened? I glanced at the knife lodged in his belly and started to shake my head, saying, "Thorn, it's too deep. If I take it out, it'll only-"

"Mirabelle, please, just take it out of me." He pleaded, and gazed up at me with those eyes of his, eyes that had once scared me down my bones. He looked so helpless, lying there, and even with the knowledge that puling it out of him would only speed up his death, I couldn't refuse him. So, as carefully as I could, I pressed one hand against his stomach and the other on the hilt of the weapon, preparing to dislodge the blade as I took in a deep breath. "This will hurt a little."

Thorn nodded and grit his teeth, ready for the pain, and in one swift motion, I slipped the knife form his abdomen, dropping the weapon at my side and pressing both of my hands against the wound to stop the blood flow. I'd learned somewhere that you were supposed to put pressure on a laceration to keep the situation from growing worse, but it didn't seem like it was working once I saw his deep red blood seeping through my fingers. My heart was pounding as I stared down at the gash, but it reached a dangerous pace when he lifted a hand to my cheek, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear as he said, "You don't have to try and save me… I'm," He sucked in a breath, "…almost dead anyway." He smiled wearily at me, and that's when I broke down. I don't even know why I did but just something about losing a person to death when I was right in front of them, and knowing I could do nothing, just made me want to cry. Tears were pouring down my face within a few minutes, and all he did was stoke my hair behind my ear gently and hush me, saying it was fine, that he'd be alright.

"W-Why? Why d-do this to m-me? Why be s-so nice to me after a-all this time?" I choked out and he shushed me tenderly, saying in this soft, weak voice, "Because after everything Azula and I put you through, you deserve some kindness. At least, from one of us." He chuckled, and brushed his thumb across my cheek lightly, one of my tears falling onto his finger in a delicate droplet. I didn't know what Cato was making out of all of this, or the Capitol citizens, but at the moment, none of it mattered. Blood was sliding out of the cut faster than I could stop it, and in an effort to calm myself, I said to him, "You're gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay…"

"Mirabelle…" The way he even spoke my name made my face fall with woe, and I squeezed my eyes shut to stop any more tears from making an appearance, but when he saw that, he murmured, "Mirabelle, look at me. Please."

Turing my head slightly, I glanced down at his face, and he smiled up at me, making it all the more painful to watch. He caressed a finger down the side of my face and whispered, "You can take Azula. Hell, if the Gamemakers gave you a 12, I _know_ you can." Wincing, he struggled to take in another breath and I smoothed his hair back off of his forehead in the hope that it might give him some comfort. For a second, his face relaxed against my touch, and swallowing, he continued, "And…I just wanted to say that…Cato is a lucky guy. To have a girl like you. But if he ever…hurts you in any way… I'll make sure my ghost will give him hell." He grimaced after that statement but managed to let out a weak laugh, and I smiled brokenly down at him, not able to stop the tears at that point. His breaths began to get more and more sporadic, and when he whimpered in pain, I shushed him in the gentlest voice I could, humming as I still ran my hand over the smooth skin of his forehead. The soft music seemed to calm him, and parting my lips, I began to sing, watching his face slowly lapse into peace as I did.

"_Come to my garden, nestled in the hill._

_There I'll keep you safe beside me._

_Come to my garden, rest there in my arms._

_There I'll see you safely grown and on your way…_

_Stay here in my garden, where dreams grow soft and mild._

_Come to my garden. Come, sweet child…"_

Those were the last words he heard, a cannon signaling his last breath. Wiping my eyes, I gazed down at him for a few moments, letting my eyes float over the sereneness of his features and I bent to place a light kiss on his forehead. He deserved as much, for everything he'd done for me.

Glaring up at the portal in front of me, I tucked the dagger into my pocket and stood, ready to finish these Games once and for all. And I hoped the Capitol was ready for the grand finale that I had in store.

**Bet you guys weren't expecting that, were you? XD Anyways, I hope you guys loved this chapter, no matter how short it may be, and if you can guess which musical the song at the end is from, the next chappie will be dedicated to you! So, as always, read, review and enjoy! :D**

**xoxo**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon **


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